pic: Exploding Tick Tigers

[David Guzman]

[cdm-description=photo]32918[/cdm-description]

[gorrilla]

do they auto-track the trailers?

[Akash Rastogi]

hahaha, this reminded me of "MORT, Tigers, and Bears"

Very nice looking robots. What's the range and deployment rate on those shooters? Awesome jobs to all 3 teams and thanks for keeping me updated for the past 6 weeks!

[miketwalker]

do they auto-track the trailers?

At the moment the robots have functional anti-skid code. There is a practice robot that will be finished this weekend for the programmers to continue work with the cameras. They have used smaller ping-pong shooter robots made from vex to track miniaturized goals with the camera. So, in short, it's still a work in progress but we are intending a semi-automated shooting system where the shooter driver 'picks' a goal and the shooter system automates the rest to track, predict goal movements, and update speed for firing. The main problem in testing appears to be the cameras latecy (upto 1/4 of a second). We are looking at ways to minimize the effect of that (predicting velocities/positions of goals, etc.) on our shooting.

As for shooting we designed around a max 10 feet range with the intention of hitting goals from a few feet away so as to be able to shoot at dumpers while staying a safe distance away. We are still tweaking with deployment rates and that will in large part depend on the accuracy of our camera work in the coming weeks.

[Swampdude]

Niiiiice... Purdy too... Videos?

[jcatt]

Niiiiice... Purdy too... Videos?

Here is a short test video of the feeder mechanism.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2437116210815572611&hl=en

Note that the shooter is removed because the feeder was so powerful that it would force the balls threw the shooter without it powered up.

[dodar]

Aw man!
you guys should have gotten 1251 and 408 to come up to Connecticut with us this year lol :p

[wendymom]

Aw man!
you guys should have gotten 1251 and 408 to come up to Connecticut with us this year lol :p


We tried!!!

[Alex Cormier]

We tried!!!

I have no problem with that!

Hope to see you in CT 1902!

[JaneYoung]

How'd you guys create the photo?

It's fabulous.

[Rob]

There is some excellent design work and machining on these robots, great job. I can't wait to get a peek close up in CT.

I hope that we get some video of the prdictive tracking once it is runing. That would be a very impressive programming job!

Good luck!

[DarkFlame145]

That is a great photo, with the lighting how it is............... also with 3 sweet looking robots.

[Brandon Holley]

we're gonna have to change floridas name from the sunshine state to the collaboration state!!! awesome bots guys!

[dbs12693x]

Inetersting you decided to duplicate each others' robot...

How did you get so many students each involved in the design process?

[techtiger1]

I will say that the collaboration went really well although as always there was a few set backs. Through our organizational/veteran skills 1902 and 1251 both sat down along with 408 to agree on this design. Meetings were held via video sometimes and in person as the inventor specialists went through each system of the robot mechanically the kids got a chance to ask questions, design on the fly and suggest improvements/ ideas. The teams held multiple conference calls to see what the status of parts, designs, and software where. JVN has a great spreadsheet on balancing deign issues and priorities as well which was referenced too. In short it is a large undertaking to make sure everyone has input on the design and I think everyone is happy with it.

Thanks for your comments on the robots,
Drew

[Dan Richardson]

I have to say having more of a side line role this year was difficult for me but watching these three teams come together and work as well as they did together was very impressive. As video becomes available from the practice robot it will be posted up here and of course we can't wait to see everyone in Florida, Connecticut and ATL.

There is a ton of pictures available courtesy of Mike Walker on the teams website. (http://www.explodingbacon.com/photos.php)

[vic burg]

Oh snaps!
Can't wait to see 'em in action next month!:D

[Lowfategg]

Now that is sweet looking.

[miketwalker]

How'd you guys create the photo?

It's fabulous.

Lol. Ceiling fan light, cardboard box, some garbage bags, duct tape, some good ole' Mike Walker engineering, and Dave saying "Oh, you have 4 minutes to take your pictures, 408 has to go, I forgot to tell you." as I was putting my contraption together. :)

[wendymom]

I will say that the collaboration went really well although as always there was a few set backs. Through our organizational/veteran skills 1902 and 1251 both sat down along with 408 to agree on this design. Meetings were held via video sometimes and in person as the inventor specialists went through each system of the robot mechanically the kids got a chance to ask questions, design on the fly and suggest improvements/ ideas. The teams held multiple conference calls to see what the status of parts, designs, and software where. JVN has a great spreadsheet on balancing deign issues and priorities as well which was referenced too. In short it is a large undertaking to make sure everyone has input on the design and I think everyone is happy with it.

Thanks for your comments on the robots,
Drew'

The other really cool thing was how all three teams ended up working together all weekend at our mentors house. We basically had a huge 3 day slumber party (and you know bacon doesn't sleep) with kids from all three teams working together to get all three machines done. It was hard work, but a lot of fun

[mizscience]

'

The other really cool thing was how all three teams ended up working together all weekend at our mentors house. We basically had a huge 3 day slumber party (and you know bacon doesn't sleep) with kids from all three teams working together to get all three machines done. It was hard work, but a lot of fun

It was definitely one of the most intense, but best "weekend[s] before ship day" I've ever experienced.

Cannot wait for Florida Regional to get here! Lucky for me, its right across the street from my dorm - literally! :]

[Doug Leppard]

As lead 1902 engineering mentor I learned a lot from 1251 and their mechanical abilities. I learned what it was like to CAD it totally before any building, thanks Dave from 1251 for that. Our biggest problem was getting parts back from various machine shops.

It was crazy Friday-Monday with all three teams building all four bots the last three days. The Grajales home was filled with building teams going from driveway, to garage and to pool area with every room filled with people working on various issues.

This was definitely a high school/college mentor build. I seldom touched the bot and mainly coordinated things or did runs to hardware store.

We knew the final testing and especially the software would take longer that is why we built a test bot. Continental Airlines is letting us use a hanger for testing.

We have automatic traction control working but discovered a flaw to be worked out.

Proto type shooter shot 12-14 ft, production shooter had bad gear waiting on the part.

Using camera, but camera has issues as all those worked on them can tell you. The shooter can vary speed thus vary distance. It will be seen later if we can hit a target moving side to side.

The amazing thing to me was how well 408, 1251 and 1902 did together each bringing their strengthens to the table. There was no blowups between the teams even with 15 hour days.

[JaneYoung]

Lol. Ceiling fan light, cardboard box, some garbage bags, duct tape, some good ole' Mike Walker engineering, and Dave saying "Oh, you have 4 minutes to take your pictures, 408 has to go, I forgot to tell you." as I was putting my contraption together. :)

Sounds about right.

[1902_Battery_SGT]

Niiiiice... Purdy too... Videos?

here is another video. it was the first full on shooter test.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1027322213028853539

[EricS-Team180]

an admirable collaboration everyone! ...can't wait to tangle with the 3 of you at the FL regional ...and if you pull off targeting and shoot-on-the-fly ? ....yow!

[sxysweed]

Aw man!
you guys should have gotten 1251 and 408 to come up to Connecticut with us this year lol :p

I'm not sure about 1251, but over here at 408 we are *broke*.
That an our sponsor-guy what very doubtful that we would even finish the robot in time. :ahh:
What's this whole Connecticut thing?

Lol. Ceiling fan light, cardboard box, some garbage bags, duct tape, some good ole' Mike Walker engineering, and Dave saying "Oh, you have 4 minutes to take your pictures, 408 has to go, I forgot to tell you." as I was putting my contraption together. :)

Lol @ "408 has to go, I forgot to tell you.." We got back to South Florida at close to 2am Tuesday(?) morning, went home and went to sleep for about three hours, go back up and went over to 1251's place and fixed a part on the robot (The Lower Rollers/BaneBots thing was still giving us problems) and crated it up.

I'll get my pictures up that I took of the whole weekend later tonight..

The other really cool thing was how all three teams ended up working together all weekend at our mentors house. We basically had a huge 3 day slumber party (and you know bacon doesn't sleep) with kids from all three teams working together to get all three machines done. It was hard work, but a lot of fun

I have to say, you guys over at Exploding Bacon are some of the nicest people I've ever night. Thanks for all the help, support, and FOOD...

[Doug Leppard]

I'm not sure about 1251, but over here at 408 we are *broke*.
That an our sponsor-guy what very doubtful that we would even finish the robot in time. :ahh:
What's this whole Connecticut thing?
We talked about 1251 and 408 coming to Connecticut regional. 1251 lead mentor/teacher was talking about joining us in Connecticut as part of the 1902 team. 1251 could not get away from school to come to Connecticut.

And yes, all of us are broke. 1902 is sending only a small team to Connecticut. I can not make it because of work.

But see you all at Champs.

[David Guzman]

As long as I don't have any tests the Tuesday after the Connecticut Regional, I will be there as a part of 1902.

Once we finish up the practice bot more videos will be posted.

I am very proud of what all three teams have accomplished. We have overcome many barriers and managed to barely finish them all on time. This weekend has proven that team work and dedication can accomplish the impossible. Thank you all for working so hard for the past six weeks, and remember the robot is never done. ;)

[JVN]

Very nice robots. Great work! Congratulations to all three teams. I know from experience that a collaborative design can often be TOUGHER than a single team design, but the results are worth it.

What most people do not understand are the incredible benefits that come from collaboration (unrelated to the robot). There is something special about two (or three) teams coming together like this. This is an incredible bond that each team may not even understand until they compete together. Kudos to you guys for trying it!

Like I said, awesome looking robots. I won't lie, I was secretly hoping that 1902 would venture back out to Texas this year, either to Dallas or to Houston. Not only are you guys awesome to be around, but we've still got a score to settle with you piggies...

-John

[dmellich]

I am very proud of what all three teams have accomplished. We have overcome many barriers and managed to barely finish them all on time. This weekend has proven that team work and dedication can accomplish the impossible. Thank you all for working so hard for the past six weeks, and remember the robot is never done. ;)

David hit the nail on the head with this. Alot of people worked very hard to get these machines ready and if I were to use a cliche it would be "too many to name". However, there are 3 students in our robotics program I would like to mention.

As you can imagine, there are many hours (dozens) of manual/CNC lathe/mill work in these robots. These students were asked to make the parts for 4 machines. They were asked to machine parts to very tight tolerances. They are required to maintain their grades. They even had to put up with my shenanigans (although I'm not sure that's how they would characterize it:ahh: ).

Of the students that did this work, 2 are juniors in first year machining and 1 is a senior in his second year. Yet, despite their limited experience and enduring many long hours in the shop, they pulled it off.

I want to say publicly that I am very proud of these young men - Kyle Williamson, Jonathan Parriera and Sean Magley.

[dodar]

We talked about 1251 and 408 coming to Connecticut regional. 1251 lead mentor/teacher was talking about joining us in Connecticut as part of the 1902 team. 1251 could not get away from school to come to Connecticut.

And yes, all of us are broke. 1902 is sending only a small team to Connecticut. I can not make it because of work.

But see you all at Champs.

lol. We too are sending a smaller team than usual. I believe we are sending something like 26 people TOTAL from our team, thats including mentors, students and alumni mentors :yikes:

[Barry Bonzack]

Picking up moon rocks (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=502976206519875317&hl=en)

Shooting ranges (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=563582803334093334&hl=en)


Shooting a poofball (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3069676887504356433&hl=en)

More video will be up in the future, click "more video from user"

[Akash Rastogi]

I'm really glad you got such amazing bots accomplished. In conversations with various members of the triplets, I really got the point of the whole idea of collaborations for the first time and really got the sense that all these teams gained so much from the experience.

I now want to break the MORT ideals and form a collaboration with some team(s?) in the near future.

[Jmrandmax]

David hit the nail on the head with this. Alot of people worked very hard to get these machines ready and if I were to use a cliche it would be "too many to name". However, there are 3 students in our robotics program I would like to mention.

As you can imagine, there are many hours (dozens) of manual/CNC lathe/mill work in these robots. These students were asked to make the parts for 4 machines. They were asked to machine parts to very tight tolerances. They are required to maintain their grades. They even had to put up with my shenanigans (although I'm not sure that's how they would characterize it:ahh: ).

Of the students that did this work, 2 are juniors in first year machining and 1 is a senior in his second year. Yet, despite their limited experience and enduring many long hours in the shop, they pulled it off.

I want to say publicly that I am very proud of these young men - Kyle Williamson, Jonathan Parriera and Sean Magley.

Woo! You go guys! You three are some of the most of important people on the team!:D

[Doug Leppard]

I'm really glad you got such amazing bots accomplished. In conversations with various members of the triplets, I really got the point of the whole idea of collaborations for the first time and really got the sense that all these teams gained so much from the experience.

I now want to break the MORT ideals and form a collaboration with some team(s?) in the near future.

It was a good experience that is not over yet. We will continue working post ship and at the Florida regional.

Though I have heard other collaborations have blown up in past. I think the main reason we did so well was people were flexible and ready to bend on their own desires.

[Jmrandmax]

Awesome! That worked alot better then I thought it would.

[Gaurav27]

Reminds Me of the Niagara Triplets of '06: 1114 (Simbotics), 1503 (Spartonics), 1680 (FESSTronics)!
Looking good! Oink Oink Rawr! :cool:
Good Luck @ Competition!

[wsansewjs]

I am just curious about the collaboration. What are the elements that is involved to keep the effort together, and what did something that brought all of you together specifically?

Fantastic outcome for the robots and team effort. I cannot wait to see all of you and share the fun! ^_^

-Josh S.

[Doug Leppard]

I am just curious about the collaboration. What are the elements that is involved to keep the effort together, and what did something that brought all of you together specifically?

Fantastic outcome for the robots and team effort. I cannot wait to see all of you and share the fun! ^_^

-Josh S.

In 1902's short four year existence, we have collaborated two years. Our best year 2007 is when we collaborated with 1369, hopefully 2009 will even be better.

1902 is a college mentor driven team. The heart is the college mentors working closely with the high school students. We adults jump in as needed and add stability.

It was the college mentors that started the discussions in collaboration. It starts with a mutual admiration of each of the teams. 1251 is very strong in mechanical and CADing, where 1902 does not CAD or very little and is not as strong mechanically.

1902 is very strong software wise, always having a good autonomous mode and large use of sensors. 1251 had little software abilities. So in a post season game the college mentors discussed the possibilities of collaboration. I then discussed it with 1251 adults leaders, we all agreed if the college mentors were for it and it made sense then we supported it.

We started by coming up with our own game design and desires, met independently from each other. Then we met to see if we were compatible enough. We saw we could combine our designs and each side was willing to compromise.

Then we started the design process, it was a give and take process, no different then doing it with one team. 1251 took the lead in CADing the design and we had many reviews.

Why this worked was because people were flexible, enjoyed working together and had mutual respect for each other. We treated each other on the various teams as being on the same team.

1251 asked if 408 could join with us, since in the past 408/1251 had built together, we agreed.

We split the costs for the three robots (really four since we are building a practice robot). Different teams did different parts of the build in producing parts machining etc. It was crazy at times and confusing and you had to work at communicating.

We had several telephone conference calls to make sure we were coordinated, since the teams are 2-3 hours apart.

We fell behind in building not because of the collaboration but because of machining parts problems. Finally all the parts came and where brought to Orlando home where we built the three robots together, what a crazy three days.

Team 1902's robot was generally built first and tested and we found out what worked or didn’t, so the robots built after that would adjust their design.

Principles we used:

1. Mutual respect.
2. Much communications.
3. Written and CADed design. Software needs were written out.
4. Identical hardware setup to learn from one another.
5. Identical electrical wiring and port assignments. This is so we had one set of software for all three bots.
6. One software for all three bots, so we didn’t have to have conditions set for each robot thus causing possible problems.
7. Driver’s stations wired the same. Again for software compatibility.

I wish we could have finished sooner, but I would not have traded this experience. I personally learned a lot working with 1251 and 408.

[bigbeezy]

thats really great how you all were able to use your strengths and put them together to make some killer robots. my first thought were the Niagara triplets of 2006. i cant wait to see them in action at Florida.

I was really surprised to see the three of you together especially bacon since they are pretty far away, but you guys made it work. Congrats and Good Luck at Florida, Connecticut, and Atlanta

[Pokechop]

This robot was really fun to make, we had some ridiculous times, but all in all it was a good experience and i would do it again any day. and i really cant wait till UCF so we can unleash this monster xD

-Kyle W

[gorrilla]

i really cant wait till UCF so we can unleash this monster xD
-Kyle W

1557 will see you there


it going to be so super crazy...


a bunch of good looking rookie teams this year too, ey?:D

[Pokechop]

1557 will see you there


it going to be so super crazy...


a bunch of good looking rookie teams this year too, ey?:D

lol ill say, although so far i havent really seen a team that doesnt look good, this year looks promising in the way that everyones got a really awesome bot, and that it will be a challenge more so this year than before. Cant wait xD

[DarkFlame145]

Less then 2 weeks and we get to see the Trio in action. I am very excited, not only for my first Florida Regional (and first Regional with 1902), but my best friend and fellow Alumni of 145 is coming down and will be here for it.

[sxysweed]

I have a few action shots from Saturday, I'll get them loaded asap...

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b290/sxysweed/pic1-1.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b290/sxysweed/ic3.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b290/sxysweed/pic2.jpg

[gorrilla]

what kind of airplane is that in the backround?

[Doug Leppard]

what kind of airplane is that in the backround?

It is a "private jet" Boeing 737. I had heard it belongs to the sheik of Dubai.

[GBIT]

Quesiton:
How do you guys plan on being legal with no bumpers on the sides. I noticed that you had no fame rails on the sides and bumpers need to be supported by frame. You need these by the rules to support the bumpers. Just wondering....

[Doug Leppard]

Quesiton:
How do you guys plan on being legal with no bumpers on the sides. I noticed that you had no fame rails on the sides and bumpers need to be supported by frame. You need these by the rules to support the bumpers. Just wondering....

Thanks for input. This only a practice bot, much is not by the rules. This bot will never see a competiton.

Our real bot will have legal bumpers.

[GBIT]

Ok cool there has been a lot of talk in terms of bumpers and such and i just wanted to make sure... see you in Atlanta I hope i want to see it in action :)

[redbarron]

Man and I thought that building three was bad :eek: .... We built three bases this year. We built the base for team 120 and they did their own superstructure, and then our competition and practice bot. Congrats for pulling the triplet operation off!! And they look great too I gotta take some notes next time I see ya Dave:D

Hope to see you guys in Atlanta since we couldn't make it to Florida this year.

[Doug Leppard]

Man and I thought that building three was bad :eek: .... We built three bases this year. We built the base for team 120 and they did their own superstructure, and then our competition and practice bot. Congrats for pulling the triplet operation off!! And they look great too I gotta take some notes next time I see ya Dave:D

Hope to see you guys in Atlanta since we couldn't make it to Florida this year.

Thanks for the encouragement. Yes it was a real stress to build four, but by that time you know how to do it. Problem is that we now know what we needs to change on the three shipped bots for Thursday and we have a lot to do on Thursday, so that will be a challenge also.

But good thing is that we have more driver practice and know now what problems we will have and can fix them.

[etgrant69]

I was crunching numbers last night (yes, for fun) and noticed two of these powerhouse teams (1251 & 1902) are in the top 10 most consistant teams attending the Florida Regional in the last 5 years and 1251 is #1! Check out the data posted on our website.


Who is the most consistant team in Florida? (http://team1649.com/?p=1292)

-=Ed=-

[gorrilla]

I was crunching numbers last night (yes, for fun) and noticed two of these powerhouse teams (1251 & 1902) are in the top 10 most consistant teams attending the Florida Regional in the last 5 years and 1251 is #1! Check out the data posted on our website.


Who is the most consistant team in Florida? (http://team1649.com/?p=1292)

-=Ed=-


wow we're 13th:ahh:

is the ranking only based on final seeding?

[Doug Leppard]

I was crunching numbers last night (yes, for fun) and noticed two of these powerhouse teams (1251 & 1902) are in the top 10 most consistant teams attending the Florida Regional in the last 5 years and 1251 is #1! Check out the data posted on our website.


Who is the most consistant team in Florida? (http://team1649.com/?p=1292)

-=Ed=-

I guess we made the right move partnering with 1251. Glad as the youngest team to be on this list.

[etgrant69]

Yes, the data is taken from the official FIRST data (linked to by the years) and then averaged by the number of years attending.
(2005+2006+2007+2008+2009)/Years

[1902_Battery_SGT]

[QUOTE=etgrant69;853766]Yes, the data is taken from the official FIRST data (linked to by the years) and then averaged by the number of years attending.
(2005+2006+2007+2008+2009)/Years[/Q

instead of just adding up all the ranks and dividing by the number of years, would it not be more 'accurate' if the lowest and highest rankings where thrown out? That way you could have a more accurate average?

[etgrant69]

[QUOTE=etgrant69;853766]Yes, the data is taken from the official FIRST data (linked to by the years) and then averaged by the number of years attending.
(2005+2006+2007+2008+2009)/Years[/Q

instead of just adding up all the ranks and dividing by the number of years, would it not be more 'accurate' if the lowest and highest rankings where thrown out? That way you could have a more accurate average?

That's the great thing about metrics, there are alot of ways to evaluate the data.
But, now that you mention it, I'm going to go back and see what the results would be under those conditions.

[David Guzman]

That's pretty cool.

I like to see that we are first, however over the years it has been proven that rankings are not an accurate way to measure a robot's performance/ability. Although I got to admit is still pretty cool to see a collection of data from the past 5 years.

Thanks for putting it together and sharing.

[etgrant69]

[QUOTE=etgrant69;853766]Yes, the data is taken from the official FIRST data (linked to by the years) and then averaged by the number of years attending.
(2005+2006+2007+2008+2009)/Years[/Q

instead of just adding up all the ranks and dividing by the number of years, would it not be more 'accurate' if the lowest and highest rankings where thrown out? That way you could have a more accurate average?

I doubt this will look right here but here is the revised list based on Scott's suggestion. As you can see it does change the standings with one notable exception. 1251 is still #1.

Team 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Years Avg
1251 16 4 4 3 8
1592 7 9 8 3 8
233 5 2 18 3 8.333333333
79 8 15 6 3 9.666666667
179 13 11 13 3 12.33333333
180 8 23 8 3 13
1649 18 9 13 3 13.33333333
801 23 6 15 3 14.66666667
1341 19 16 15 3 16.66666667
1557 35 12 11 3 19.33333333
1345 10 33 2 21.5
1902 20 24 2 22
1523 32 27 10 3 23
1065 32 14 2 23
108 21 25 26 3 24
386 17 14 44 3 25
744 38 18 2 28
1144 28 28 2 28
945 14 41 30 3 28.33333333
86 21 39 2 30
168 34 35 23 3 30.66666667
408 31 31 2 31
312 37 28 2 32.5
665 47 37 17 3 33.66666667
1543 44 14 43 3 33.66666667
342 40 30 2 35
1029 16 41 49 3 35.33333333
1390 15 43 48 3 35.33333333
21 29 39 47 3 38.33333333
1875 36 46 2 41

[wendymom]

Does it make a difference that we are only a 4th year team? We would have no data for the 1st year.

[etgrant69]

Does it make a difference that we are only a 4th year team? We would have no data for the 1st year.

It just means there is one less data point to work with but the math still works. The down side is that with the revised data, you only have two years to average. I'll do this again when we all have 10 years of data available. That will give a much better picture.

[etgrant69]

That's pretty cool.

I like to see that we are first, however over the years it has been proven that rankings are not an accurate way to measure a robot's performance/ability. Although I got to admit is still pretty cool to see a collection of data from the past 5 years.

Thanks for putting it together and sharing.

I agree, metrics only show so much. To illustrate that point, our two best years we lost and the 3rd and 4th best years we won. This was all just for fun anyway.
If anyone is interested I uploaded the spread sheet with all the data in it to our site.
http://team1649.com/?p=1292
Look for the link below the data table.

[Marinard]

nice robots
gj guys )