Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

:) Thanks

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

I'm glad I know a student from your team who is level-headed.

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

Most trolls do have a bedtime :D .

I know getting my electrical/biometric/computer engineering degree is important and all, and so is employment, but can I apply for a "mentor" position where I really just watch you guys work and try to keep my brain in solid form?

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

The playing field IS level. We all play according to the same rules. There are big sponsors everywhere, you just have to show them you're worthwhile to spend their money on. You'll notice that the superstar teams (148, 118, 217, 254, 1114, 2056, 233, 25, 16, 67, 987, etc) are not concentrated in any one particular area.

The superstars aren't great because they have great sponsors. They have great sponsors BECAUSE they're great.

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

You know....

118 does amazing reveal videos every year, it's clear they have a phenomenal media team. It would be really interesting if they did a full documentary style video of their build season. I suspect a lot of people (myself included) would love to watch a feature length documentary on the 118 build process....

Of course, maybe that would involve giving away too many trade secrets :rolleyes:

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

And of course they chose not to reveal it during premier night.

118 you have exceeded all expectations.

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

I'm curious, Justin, how many RC helicopters do you guys have to budget for this year? :rolleyes:

Still watched this all morning today between classes. 1) I can't get enough of the bot, 2) brilliantly produced video, 3) I really just wanted to hear Can't Hold Us all day haha.

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

I feel like most of the video would just be blurred out :P

I saw pics of Macklemore shooting a video on the Row at USC a few weeks ago (probably for this song)...he could have saved some coin and simply used this as the official music video with a few cameos.

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

One thing that makes FIRST powerful is how we, coming from a community team that works out of a garage with limited resources, have learned so much, have become so inspired, that we know that we can build a robot that can be as successful and excellent as any of the Robonauts' golden robots. Without teams like them, we wouldn't see the potential we have to be excellent! And after spending countless hours buildinng, designing, and outreaching with my teammates, I still wouldn't mind losing to a team like this at all: every endeavor we make benefits our skills, and whenever we become better we inspire others as well. Kudos, Robonauts!

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

Robonauts are a national treasure. Apex is a work of art. It should be in a museum. Immediately.

Great job. Congratulations!

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

We have a level playing field. They have the sponsors because they've gone above and beyond to excel in what they do. It's like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHONpmlxPc

Your logic is like saying Michael Jordan was a great basketball player because of the shoes. He was the best before & after those shoes. Those students that you just discounted with your comment; they worked tirelessly & in seamless collaboration with mentors/sponsors/their community to push the envelope in exceeding the images of extravagant gameplay that FIRST hoped to cultivate within its students. They would probably still be doing this even with the simplest of equipment.

I had the pleasure of attending a Week 0 event locally as a referee & as a member of GeorgiaFIRST. While walking around, I found a robot that looked simply amazing. 4 cylinder shooter, ridiculously exceptional drive train, and an ingenious corkscrew system to adjust their shooting & Frisbee loading. It was something to look at. Wish I had a picture to put here.

When I asked about their materials to create these amazing things, you know what they told me majority of their materials came from?

Their local junkyard. They have the drive, and they have the ingenuity to create something with the simplest of materials and absence of things my old team would consider to be a given right, and they created something I expect to see in the elimination rounds at Peachtree.

The Robonauts are the best because they do the things that are hard, and they have reached and surpassed the point in their collective walk in where they are stepping outside their previous comfort zones, and endeavor to do greater things than others have ever thought or attempted to do. That's the secret to their robot; not the money or the access, but the individual heart and spirit in everyone that steps inside that workshop to go big, and become the best. To finish my annoyance with your statement, here's a quote from President Kennedy that a mentor from another team showed me when I was writing a speech for the Peachtree Regional (and it fits with this team):

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Again, great robot, great students and mentors; and overall, great team. Makes me proud to know one of the alumni from my alma mater assists as a mentor in this amazing collaborative.

End of rant.

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

How are you guys able to alter the spin of the disc. In some shots, the disc veers hard left, while some veer hard right (and everywhere in between).

Now if I am not mistaken, it looks like the entire top half of the robot can slide up and down (0:49). Is there any particular reason for this?

Beautiful robot! Good luck and we'll see you at competition.

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

*snrk* I'm trying to decide if you meant to do that. :)

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video
 

Of course. But they probably have a dastardly practice robot. :rolleyes:

Re: The Robonauts 118 - 2013 Video