Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

I've seen that pic before; not sure why I didn't remember it. Stupid AP Tests, clearing my head of useful knowledge and putting in useless stuff. :rolleyes:

It looks like it was designed for both types of shots. I'd say I was more surprised when I was watching MSC and saw 548 back up and take shots.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

What about 118's 2011 tube centering wings? They were pretty cool and innovative.

Or the 16 ball grabber device from this year?

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

I don't think 118's "wings" from 2011 was a game changer, at least not enough to make me wish I'd thought of it. Additionally, IIRC, they ended up removing the wings.

16's ball grabber device is really an example of the 'over the bumper' style of collection, one that was sported by many top tier robots. Having said that, I wish we'd thought of it.

- Sunny G.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

I've seen it up close a bunch of times, but I'm going from memory. Hopefully one of the 67 guys can jump in on this.

Here's what I remember: a LOT of thick latex tubing around a reel, which was coupled to a winch. A small arm set a hook on the top bar of the tower which was attached to the cable from the winch. They pulled a pin (or some other link) that released the reel, causing the spring energy stored in the latex tubing to spin the reel, which spun the winch. They fashioned a BIG hand crank that hooked up to the reel so they could wind it up before each match.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

I think people thought of it, I know I did, but I never thought I'd see someone pull it off:

2056's hanging mechanism in 2010. I loved that thing.

Btw 1625 also had a gas strut hanger in 2010 to lift after the buzzer.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

I'm surprised no one brought up the pinch rollers from 2010, especially in a game where ball possession was everything.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

While we're on 2010, 25's ball vacuum. Their ability to suck a ball out of a corner was really advantageous.

I've always wanted to replay 2010 to combine the IFI double pinch roller and 25's vacuum to create the ultimate ball possession device...

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

Not sure if this is really brilliant or not, but I was impressed.

1114 uses one image to track the net. This allows for less lag, just the same accuracy and prevents blocking their view.

I thought that was cool. Maybe it's just me being a on a rookie team without a shooter. :P

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

Team 2122 developed a "bump box" that would hold two balls in hybrid mode and was designed to attach to kop frame members of shooter-less alliance partners. Given the importance of hybrid scoring in this year's game we wanted a way to keep two balls off the co-op bridge and feed them into our shooter. Our programmers wrote a hybrid mode in which our robot would shoot two, back up and bump our partner and load and shoot their two balls. Worked well in finals in Spokane and we got to use it twice at Champs.

Spokane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofefwcw56Ow

Here is a pic of the bump box mounted on 4082 in Spokane:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60133134/DSC_5768.JPG

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

What exactly do you mean by one image?

It sounds like they take one image at the start of the match, then use that for reference for the rest of the match, which I have a hard time believing was ever implemented (although if it's 1114...)

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

Probably robot is lined up in the key and not going to move; take image, act on that. As long as the robot base doesn't move you're fine.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

Tigertrons Team 222 used a dog bowl I believe.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

Basically, if you know the relationship between "pixels from center" of the target in the camera and "degrees from center" of your turret, you can just take a single picture once the robot base is in place and turn the turret the correct amount using an encoder or potentiometer.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

Multiple teams did; besides the one already mentioned, 987 used a bowl to feed their shooter from their conveyor.

Re: Why didn't we think of that?
 

This is brilliant. Great work and a nice example of simplicity mixed with outside the box thinking.