Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce an open design competition for the month of December. The competition is simple: Everyone competing must design a robot in CAD to play Block Barrage, an FRC game designed by myself, Wasay Anwer (wasayanwer97), and another friend who wishes to stay anonymous. We are using this game to teach our teams strategic design in CAD modeling to train them for the build season, and thought it would be a fun idea to open it up as a competition to everyone.

The manual to Block Barrage as well as field CAD models can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

The rules of this competition are relatively relaxed, since the goal of this competition is to learn and have fun. If you have any questions about it, please feel free to pm me directly or post in this thread.

The competition begins today (December 1st) and ends at the end of the month on December 31st. Two winners will be chosen by a panel of judges before kickoff: one student, and one mentor. The winning student will be awarded with bragging rights and a $50 American Express gift card generously donated by Akash Rastogi. Currently the prize for adults is the satisfaction of inspiring students with your genius design (other prizes may be added as they come, but since it is a learning activity it is all about the students).

Submission: When you are ready to submit your design, email either a Solidworks Pack and Go of the assembly or a STEP file (both is better) to BlockBarrage2013@gmail.com with a small description of your robot and your strategies for the game.

Good luck everyone!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I was going to do my homework but never mind.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Thank you very much to Akash Rastogi for generously donating a $50 American Express gift card to the winner of the competition!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Would it be possible to post a CAD of the field in a polygonal format like a .blend, .skp, .stl, or .dae for those of us with macs and no access to Inventor or Solidworks? Thanks!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

You made my day.
But unfortunately this carpet doesn't exist. I checked mcmaster.

I might do this competition. It definitely sounds interesting.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Enclosed is the field converted to an stl file.

Let me know if there are any issues.

http://bit.ly/1gwyQIt

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I really like the SECOND logo. Anyone care to make up what it stands for?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Student Engineers Constructing Outstanding New Designs

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Spread this around to kids who don't really use Chief Delphi. The more kids we can get prepared for 2014, the better the season will be for all teams. I wasn't a part of the creation process for Andrew's game, but the intent of it is great. Hope everyone puts in their best effort.


Good luck to whoever enters!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Just so I'm clear, students and mentors submit separately correct?

- Sunny G.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Secretly
Encouraging
CADing
Of
New
Designs

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

STEM
Education for the
Creation of
Omnipresent
Non-mecanum
Drivetrains

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Is descoring legal? I see no prohibition, but on the other hand...

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Yes, students and mentors submit separately.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Descoring is completely legal. That being said, you get a pretty hefty penalty if you knock over a stack in the protected stack zone. Everything else is free game.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Yes. Students and mentors submit separately.

Collaboration is encouraged though, as always.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Reported.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I must say, it's a very interesting game/challenge. I totally dig it. If we weren't already neck deep into VEX, I'd have my team working on this.

Are you guys planning on releasing the design submissions after this is all over? I'd love to see what other people come up with.

Also, dat overpass.
- Sunny G.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Are stacks required to be supported by the field?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I'd personally like to see releases similar to teams unveiling their robots after build season, but we are leaving the choice to unveil up to the submitters. Whatever they design is their property, so it'll be their choice. That being said, as an individual waiting for kickoff, I'd suggest teams unveil their robots at least after the 31st when what you show won't affect anyone else's designs. It's fun to see what others created, and maybe can provide some last minute inspiration for a design before the build season begins.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Yes, stacks may not be supported by robots or anything else (this includes alliance walls and railings). They can be close, but cannot be supported by them.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

And thennnn, this came up--->

Gotta figure out some strategy to make people pin me...

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Not sure if I'm just missing it but where do robots start in autonomous and do they get any preloaded crates?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

A very strong electromagnet, perhaps? :rolleyes:

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

By pin, it means the usual "pin longer than 5 seconds". This is explored further on in the rules. I wouldn't base a strategy on trying to incur penalties. Remember forcing a penalty on an opponent is a penalty itself. ;)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Right under 3.0 - The Game, it lists the starting conditions. There are no preloaded crates, but teams are free to pick up off the floor or go to their loading station during autonomous.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

How are teams seeded? Do eliminations work any different from regular matches? How does alliance selection work?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Is there a max # of crates that can be held?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

No limit.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Seeding is based on a simple win/loss system. It should not be a consideration for design (although it has been in some official games)

Eliminations and seeding matches should work the same. Alliance section wouldnt be different from the norm.

Note:
Although we're happy to see all these questions, this was purely released for the sake of offering a fun design challenge.
Don't take it for much more than that ;)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

So if my robot is contacting my stack at the end of the match, the score isn't counted?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Nope. If your stack touches anything other than the floor of the field, it gets no points.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Do stacks have to be completely isolated from other objects? IE, if I have a structure such that a bunch of blocks are on top of each other but one block (its location inconsequential to the overall structural integrity of the stack) happens to be touching a wall, is the entire stack invalidated? I'm fairly sure the answer is yes, but just a small clarification.

Also, awesome job to the crew that put this together. You guys are part of what makes the FIRST community and CD so awesome. Hopefully I'll be able to carve out enough time for a submission...

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Thanks a bunch! We really appreciate the compliments, and thank you and everyone else for participating in this!

To answer your question, if you're stacking near a wall, and one of the blocks barely touches the wall, you'll probably be fine. The rule was made because we didn't want people purposely stacking against the wall or another object for back support, or "accidentally" stacking so that a few or more of their blocks touch and receive support. Remember this is just a design challenge. It's unlikely the game will actually be played (though I'd love to play it).

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

For the first time in history asking for rule clarification on CD will get you an official response. :yikes:

So "must stay within 18 inches of the frame perimeter" meaning you can have 2 extensions in opposite directions at the same time and still be legal?

Also, how (and by whom) will the designs be judged? On clever innovative ways of accomplishing the challenge, the robot that the judges think is most likely to win with a competent driver, or the skill/detail of the CAD work?

Is there a specific purpose to the overpass that I am missing? Can you stack on top of it?

There is no benefit to creating a stack in a tank, right, it just has to be in there?

And why is there no score for stacks in auton?

How much of the CAD has to be your own work, I assume there will be no penalty for downloading the CAD of a CIM but what about a custom gearbox or an entire drivetrain (credit given of course) so that you can focus on designing a mechanism. (not that I would do that, but it should be stated for the rules) (Also, you may want to put a link to this thread in the rules as the official Q&A)

Thanks for making this guys, I will be sure to show it to the MOE Design team and may just participate myself.

Edit: Thought of one more, If you are able to create a stack where only one block is touching the ground but there is more than one block per "layer" would that be legal for all the blocks? (Sorry if i'm lawyering)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Personally, I'd treat it as an exercise to develop effective ways of describing your design/process. Being as this is a fictional exercise perhaps discuss methods for evaluation that WOULD be use. Assume you are talking to judges about various awards and work from that perspective. Might even be a cool chance to collaborate with your awards/judges team.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Is climbing into the tank legal? huehuehue :D

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

To answer your questions in order:

1) There is no limit to the amount of extensions, just how far they are from the frame perimeter.

2) The designs and strategies will be judged by a secret panel of judges who will score the designs based on how they approach the game, what they try and accomplish, how well their design is capable of accomplishing it, what the strategy is, and how well the design plays to the strategy.

3) The main objective we had in mind for the overpass was to limit maneuverability based on robot height. If your robot cannot fit under the overpass, the only way to get to the other side of the field is to go through the other area, which isn't too wide, and greatly limits the number of paths your robot can take. Sort of like how being short allowed you to drive under the pyramid this year. You can stack on it all you want. It's not going to get you any points.

4) You do not get more points from stacking in tanks than you do anywhere else.

5) Stacks do not score in auton because they are scored at the end of the game. There is also a chance they can be knocked over during the round. It would be like hanging on the pyramid in auton this year, then climbing off during teleop and ending the match off the pyramid. No use in scoring until after the round ends.

6) Your design can be all COTS for all we care. Just like normal competition. We want to see your approach to the game, and how effective it could potentially be.

Hope this helps, and I'll definitely put the link to this thread in the Manual, thank you for the tip!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I know it's not specifically stated in the rules, but I'm gonna say no on this one. I'll let it fall under the "general FIRST rules" part of the manual. Would FIRST allow you to stuff your robot into the frisbee goals in Ultimate Ascent?

That's what I thought.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Careful with this. I thought that we could also look into hoarding crates, but each one is ~8.88 lbs. Simply carrying three would mean trying to manipulate ~26.7 lbs.

- Sunny G.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Check out 2005 ;)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Even with 1 crate, on shelves you are holding 9 lbs 9ft in the air, which is just awful for your CG. With the new perimeter rules(shorter robot) I would guess that it would be really easy for robots to tip over.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

What are the rules on crossing the center line during autonomous to collect crates?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

There are no rules. Go nuts. Just remember to follow the height rules per side.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

What was 2005 like?

(I mean in terms of the engineering challenges. I know teams had to manipulate large tetras.)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Large tetras that weights 9 lbs and some change. Might be a good place to look at how teams did it. How they stayed upright despite some teams holding 3/4 tetras 10'+ in the air.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Unless I've missed something, I cannot find where the other 105 crates that are not in the loading station go. Can someone clarify this?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

There are 40 on each side of the field, placed randomly at the beginning of each match.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

*facepalm*

Sorry!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

It's all good. We're only human. I'm sure someone else had the same question as you and your post cleared it up for them.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I know you said that for descoring, everything but the stacked crates are fair game. Does this include the auton crates? Also, does the multipler(2x or .5x) apply to auton crates?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I laughed way too hard at the title of your organization. Clever. XD

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

The only thing that cannot be descored are stacked crates in the protected stack zone (the 18x18 square colored on each driver station wall) . Any stack outside of that zone is free game.

When descoring, you take away points at the value they are worth at the time of descoring. If you descore in teleop, the other alliance loses the amount of points they'd earn in teleop for that object. If you descore during autonomous, they lose the points that object would have scored in autonomous.

The multiplier crate changes score based off of the total score in a zone. If there is a mix of auton and teleop points in a zone, then it either doubles or halves the total points in the zone.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Penalties are a bit harsh, no?

Also - very cool to see so many people involved in this. Good work Andrew & company.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I was gonna make them 256 to some power (random number, no meaning), but decided that would be a bit harsh.

And I'm also glad to see so many people involved! I never imagined this would get as popular as it is! And thank you again for helping us out by donating a prize to the winning students. We really appreciate it!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I think you forgot to change the logo on the side of the crate. :)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/6-...bUpnQ_nmGoHg5A

This sounds like an amazing competition; perfect for getting hyped before build!
I hope SRC (SECOND Robotics Competition) can become a regular thing in the future!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Now that I have had a few days to look over the competition, I thought I would share my initial thoughts on the game and share my initial design strategy before I go and CAD it.

Thoughs:

1. Stacking is a non-factor (like stacking in '03). Stacking is significantly more difficult than dropping crates in the tank (1pt and 2pt goal) however, until you get a stack taller than 6 crates (3*4=12pts), you could gain more points just dropping the crates in the 2pt goal. (2*6=12pts). And with only one safe place really to create your stack, why waste the time making a stack when a robot could quickly just knock it over.
2. Red alliance has a major advantage (for experienced teams) over blue alliance because of where the loading stations are. It is much easier to pick up a crate from the loading station then one scattered around the field, so this will be the main supply of crates for each alliance. Because of this, the distance from the red alliance loading station around the tank to the 2pt goal is much shorter than the distance from the blue alliance loading station to the blue 2pt goal. Also, the distance from the red alliance loading station under the overpass to the 1pt goal is much closer than the same trip by the blue alliance. This could allow red to score a few more crates a match just because of shorter driving times. However, if you are a low skilled team who is taller than 30" but can only score in the 1pt goal, you would much rather prefer the blue alliance.
3. Auton is near impossible. With robots unable to start preloaded with a crate, they would have to autonomously find one, and then score it. With an additional 40 crates scattered around the field, it would make preprogramed pathing near impossible. Expect no teams to ever score in auton.
4. There is not much difference between the 1pt goal vs the 2pt goal if you are an experienced team mechanical wise except: 1pt and being able to go under the overpass vs. 1&2pt and not able to go under the overpass. So does being able to go under the overpass allow you to score twice as fast?
5. 4pt goal is significantly more difficult than the 1/2pt goal. I would say that for 99% of teams they would be better served making a fast 1/2pt scorer than a lousy, slow 4pt scorer (im just bias due to how slow half the robots were in 2011 to reach 108 inches tall). However, if your team has the ability to make a fast elevator, the 4pt goal is much worth it due to it being less congested and worth more.

If my team was building a robot for this game (note MY TEAM not 1114). I would build a simple robot to pick a crate off the ground or from the loading station and then lift it and dump it in the 2pt goal with a small elevator. I would make it extremely fast and durable, using a 6 wheel WCD with a two speed transmission geared for 4-6/14-16fps. I would try and keep the CG as low as possible, but I would not worry about having it be under 30". I'll post my design in a week or so (I came up with a pretty clever gripper design).

About the game itself, I like the general idea for the game, but there are a few major flaws. Like said above, the red alliance has a major advantage because of where their loading station is, along with how most of the field will be littered in crates getting in every ones way. If I was to make a few improvements, I would move the loading station to the other side and ditch the overpass, along with get rid of the random crates and only have a few to start on the field while putting all of them in the loading zones. By removing the "random" crates (like is someone actually going to have a random number generator to determine where the crates should go) and placing it in the loading stations, you create a less cluttered game while making field reset much easier and quicker.

Also with the crates, they would most likely shatter if dropped from the 4pt goal, let alone into the tank. So I will just assume that they won't be destroyed in competition for my design.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

The distances to any particular object is the same for both alliances. I'm unsure of what you're referring to.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Does "40 crates randomly positioned on each side of the white line." mean that there are 40 crates on the field total, or that there are 40 on each side?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

40 on each side, 80 starting on the field in total. This added to the 25 crates in each loading station makes 130 useable crates in the game.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Please excuse my terrible paint skills, but this should explain.

http://i.imgur.com/3hOVhkz.png

Notice the red 2pt path is shorter than the blue 2pt path?

And how the red 1pt path is shorter than the blue 1pt path?

And both by a good 5ish feet.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

You can use the path through the overpass to score into the 2 point goal. Why go all the way around to do it?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Because to go under the overpass, the robot needs to be under 30 inches (29 to be safe) and the 2pt goal is 60 inches high which is not a lot of space to create something to lift the block up (and the 14 inch extension rule doesn't help). That doesn't mean that it can't be done, but I would say only the extremely competitive teams could do that successfully. The rest will just make a taller 2pt scorer robot forcing them to drive around the tank. So if the majority of teams have to go around the tank, then the blue alliance will have an advantage.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I assume you use 6 crates for each method.

For stacking its 3 * (6-2) = 12 because there are 4 more crates stacked over two.

For the 2pt goal 2 * 6 = 12

So you have to stack higher than 6 for it to be more worth it than just dropping them in the 2pt goal.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Where does the -2 come from? It says "3 * (number of crates stacked above 2). Any stack under 3 crates tall will count as 0 points." Therefore, 3 crates would count as 9 points because 3 is above 2.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I think this is stems from confusing language in the actual manual. "3 * (number of crates stacked above 2)." I read it to be 3 * the additional crates stacked above 2. So if it is a 3 crate stack, it would be 3 * 1 (because 3 is one more than 2) = 3. However, I now see how you can read it the other way.

If this is the case, I would take back saying that stacking is a non-factor and amend the statement to say stacking is not the most effective way to score.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

You forget teams can pick up off the ground. There are over 61% of the useable game pieces on the ground to start with.

And I've already seen designs of teams who can successfully dump into the high tank and fit under 29 inches tall. Just gotta think outside the box (or in this case, the crate). ;)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

There is a difference between designs and pratical robots. For all intensive purposes, I could build a giant sling shot to shot the crates into the tank. But just because I could build it doesn't mean that it is effective or that I could build it well.

And besides, having a playing field which is non symmetrical is going to cause one alliance to have advantages over the other.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I agree the wording can indeed be interpreted both ways, and unfortunately it was difficult to word this section of the rules. The way it will be "scored" is only the crates above the two crate mark will be counted. So in a stack of 6 crates, only 4 of the crates are above the 2 required minimum crates, which results in 12 points (4 crates * 3 points each = 12 points).

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

The non symetrical playing field isn't great, but it isn't that bad. I agree the game could be better if it was symetrical.

I also agree that the shelf is a bit high. Dense game pieces + small robot sizes makes me question whether it would actually be possible to build a good shelf robot.

That said, if you can't think of a method(not including shooting) to build a 36" tall robot that can dump in the high goal, you aren't thinking hard enough. We have a design to dump in the shelf while still staying under 36".

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I'm quite sure these designs will work. And this is a design competition. Nothing will be tested in real life, so the only way teams will be able to prove their idea works is with documentation and reasonable explanation. If you can back up your design well enough, you could build Plowie with a slingshot and magnetic pickup system on a unicycle stand and still win. That being said, you've got to back it up extremely well.

As for the symmetrical part, that's just how the game goes. I think the difference is negligible enough not to make a difference. Besides, as the manual always says "The best teams will always design around these small differences".

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

To everyone saying that the non-symmetrical field is unfair or biased. Please remember this is a design competition, not an actual game that you would be building a robot to play. Whether one alliance has an unfair advantage or not doesn't matter because your designed robot will never have to be placed into one of those alliances.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

A design is only as good as the strategy it executes.

And I would go even farther to say that all designs (for the same strategy) are equal in FRC. The only difference is how well a team executes a design. A team who does a simple task very well will do much better than a team who does a complicated task not too well.

So I would say that aimlessly designing robots is a useless task if you do not account for how your design accomplishes your strategy.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I don't find this competition to be all about developing strategy. I think it will also help our CAD team work better together and faster.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

All design in FRC is (should be) strategy driven. If you're not thinking about strategy when designing something for this competition, you're not really practicing the essential skills you'll need to have finely polished in 30 days.

This game is challenging, the manual is hard to understand, and a lot of the challenges have some annoying constraints / features that make them quite hard to achieve. But something will probably work. Now is a good time to practice the use of center of mass analysis, material properties, etc. in order to design a robot that is able to complete the game task with any semblance of stability.

In short, sure you could just say "this is a design challenge" and skip finding an optimal strategy, but why miss out on all aspects of the experience?

I would say the asymmetric field is a big problem of the game design, particularly the location of the limbo bar (I think just removing this would fix a lot of the game). However, it's not like FRC games don't have big flaws to design around as well.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Can the Alliance Crate be scored in any of the alliance's 4 scoring areas? So if I place it in either the Low or High Goal in the middle, it doubles the crates in that quadrant. If I place it on the Shelf, it doubles the crates on the shelf. If I place it in my protected zone, it doubles whatever stack I may have in my protected zone. Same goes for halving the other alliance's crates.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I do agree that strategy is important and that if you plan to enter you should be practicing these skills. However, I don't feel that the competition is "aimless" if you don't focus on strategy. Any and all practice is good practice.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Is it legal to take blocks out of opposing alliance scoring zones, and is it the same for the alliance block?
Also what is an "anti mecanum" floor?
What exactly is this shelf for?

Is it okay if I Frankenstein previous robots together rather than make everything from scratch, (IE drivetrain)...would you even notice :P?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Yes, in any zone except the protected zone.

A bad joke. It's carpet.

It is the high goal. Crates scored on the shelf get 4 points each in teleop.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I'm not saying that strategy isn't an important role, because I know for a fact it is. All I'm saying is that it doesn't matter if one side is biased or not. If this was actual FRC game is would be a huge issue, but since we're CADing robot and not actually competing with them, it doesn't matter how biased the field is towards certain alliances. You could design a 29" high robot that scores in the 2 pt goals, and state in your strategy brief that it goes the fastest way possible depending on which alliance your on.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

You are correct.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

To those saying the red alliance has a huge advantage over the blue alliance, remember this game isn't actually going to be played. Because of this factor, it's up to you how you design your strategy, and our judges will be looking at that.

If you feel the red alliance has a significant advantage that will greatly affect your design, then put yourself on the red alliance if it makes you happy. Go ahead, we'll let you choose your alliance!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Hey, that sounds familiar!

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Just thought I'd post a little teaser for what's to come:

(Does not contain actual manipulator, just drivetrain and electronics board)

P.S. I think that we will be able to tell what subteam everyone is on based on how much space they leave for electronics in their design. :rolleyes:

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

I meant the self in the middle by the scoring tubs, I shouldve been clearer my bad.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

The "overpass" is simply there to encourage shorter robot designs, as quite a bit of time is saved by driving under the overpass rather than around the tank.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Small teaser from the robot I am working on. I have been collaborating with one of our students who is much further ahead compared to me.

We were both designing Logomotion robots to practice CADing a full robot when this game was announced so we decided to move to this project as it was more challenging since it was a fresh game.

Thanks to the group who decided to put this together. This has been quite the challenge and I can't wait to see what we end up with. Great practice for 2014!

And now, I'll leave you with this.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Wow, that's a cool design! Am I correct in thinking that it dumps large quantities of crates in the large tank from that tube?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Possibly.

Although I can't confirm what the end manipulator will do/look like.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Yellow is the new pink?

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Some stuff for designers to consider working on this challenge:

1. CG is a *huge* problem with this game. You're given a smaller base than normal, a heavy, and the opportunity to lift it more than 8 feet in the air. Especially if you are lifting more than one cube at a time, CG needs to be a driving design focus. How many pounds can you afford for your end effector, keeping in mind you're already putting 9 pounds "up high" before you even start?

2. How will you grip the cubes? A 9 pound wooden game piece with smooth edges is not going to automatically work with any permutation of a roller claw. How will your manipulator handle the forces at play? Can you create the necessary static friction force with your rollers? We don't have the advantage of actual prototyping here, but try to be realistic.

3. You're only given 18 inches of extension. With the bumpers, that number shrinks to ~15 inches, not much bigger than the length of one cube. Keep this in mind for any over the bumper mechanisms.

I've been wrapping my head around this when I have spare time between exams. I'll post a "teaser" of what I'm doing in the next day or two, and I'd be happy to explain what I came up with when and if I finish a basic model.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

If I didn't know any better I would guess that was 1678's drive system from last year painted yellow.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

It does have resemblances to 1678's 2013 drive but I didn't base my design off of theirs. Its a plate drive that I designed this fall using 3/16in plate, 8wd, 4in colson wheels, and ball shifters. Everything is run with chains with sliding standoffs as tensioners.

Oddly enough I did talk to one of their mentors Adrian Clark about a previous version of this drive (that used WCP single speed gearboxes) and he offered some excellent feedback, suggestions, and his thoughts about plate drives and West Coast Drives. It was great being able to talk to someone from the west cost on the matter as it seems there are big differences in how east cost and west coast team's design drivebases. We also had a good discussion on resources and how we use them.

So no it isn't 1678's drive but it was influenced by their mentors. :)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

*retracted, wrong thread, oops!*

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Here is my teaser.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxr...it?usp=sharing

My robot works by using a giant yellow cloud of magical dust which teleports all of the crates onto the shelf within the first 3 seconds of the match.

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Do I spy a swerve? I'll have to talk with Brendan about that now..;)

Re: Announcing the 2013 December Design Competition
 

Yes, I am planning on using a swerve. I do not think that Brendan is, but I'm not sure.