Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Every year a team from Hammond, Indiana finds a way to build a BEAST of a robot (pun intended). We have all seen three weeks of competition, yet no sign of Team 71. So, I thought it would be fun to guess as to what robot they will be building this year.

Here are my thoughts-

First possibility:
They build a machine that does the usual - everything! They will have a funnel on a arm, much like TechnoKats' (Team 45's) design. They will be able to feed their human player quickly, then grab a big ball and cap the nearly full stationary goal. After they cap, they will be able to uncap their opponent's stationary goal because it will only take them about 15-20 seconds to hang. This small amount of time to hang is fair because they will be able to grab the bar and hang from the carpet. Bottom line: Lots of small balls will be scored and doubled, they will have some defense, and an extremely smart and fast hanging device.

Second possbility:
They will build a machine that is similar to Team 190. I think they will have a five arm system - yes five, independent arms! One arm will grab the bar in autonomous, the second and the third arms will defend the rest of the bar, the fourth arm will be able to cap and uncap their stationary goal, and the fifth arm will be able to cap and uncap the opponents stationary goal. Bottom line: They will get on the bar very fast, hang, defend, uncap, and cap the respective goals.

Whatever 71 does, plan on the machine being very consistent and having anti-tipping mechanisms due to last year's robot's tipping problems.

Well, this is just what has been bumbling in my head for the past three weeks, what about yours?

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I'm going to go out on a limb, and guess that they'll do something that I just thought of today. It seems like a Beatty-esque idea. The basic concept is, the robot has a big basket of some sort, one strong arm, and one really long thin arm. The robot drives under the ball chute in autonomous, opens up the basket, and then swings out a reall long arm to hit the nearest ball tee and release and catch all 18 balls in autonomous mode. The strong arm is a possible addition to this design, and will grab the doubler and hang. One possible variation: the ball tee whacking arm has a hook on the end for hanging on the bar, in lieu of a separate bar-grabbing arm. Anyways, I don't know how likely this idea is, but 71 has used a big swinging arm before, and Mr. Noble told me at Great Lakes that they were doing "something that hasn't been seen before" and, well, this hasn't been seen before. So, it's my best guess.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

why do i have a feeling that team 71 will play really defensive this year just by having a strong arm for hanging and to control the 2x....? :confused:

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Hmm, maybe they've finally made a robot that can fly!

Actually, I origanally expected them to do the same thing 1241 does, but the "something that hasn't been seen before" hint makes me wonder. They usaully find some way to control the entire match, but this years game seems very difficult to control. Whatever they do, I'm sure we'll all be kicking ourselves for not thinking the same thing or for having the same idea and dismissing it.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Haven't you people learned yet? You won't get anything out of them until their first regional. Guess all you want, but it looks like nobody outside of their team will know anything for sure until this Thursday at the Midwest Regional...

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

i believe that it will be a hanger from the ground with a telescoping turret arm (since they used one last year). With a 2x ball manupulator.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I believe that they will have a basket with a long arm to knock the 10 point ball off the tee in autonomous, they feed those 18 balls to their human player...go get their opponents 18 balls as they fall (if not triggered during autonomous mode) and bring a mobile goal back on their way back with the other 18 balls...they take the 2x ball off the mobile goal while feeding the next 18 balls to the human player...by then, the stationary goal will be close to full...they will cap the stationary goal and then be able to hang quickly. It is very easy to do this all if you have a reliable robot (with all the above mentioned capabilities) and good drivers.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

5 Arms??? You have them having one arm for their goal, and one arm for their opponents goal....Why not just have one arm and have their gear (or in our case capstone) above the bar so that they arm can go up and over the bar like ours? It works quite well, and it can be controlled and very quick if perfected.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Very true, I thought to myself - five is better than four! Still 190's design is unbelievable. Congrats on an creating an awesome machine.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

here's my guess...

71 will be able to do everything possilbe... while hanging on the bar. they can cap any goal, block the bar, even herd balls... while hanging!!! hehehe :ahh: :ahh: :ahh:

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

My guess is the Beatty will use PVC in a critical place. See their 1997, 2001, and 2002 robots for examples ;)

And think about what else those years have in common ;)

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Don't forget last year's (2003) robot too, with the very long telescopic arm, which was also made out of PVC.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Mr Bill and son Brian are way ahead of everyone else. These 2 guys and their awesome crew will bring out a machine with the capabilities of nothing we have ever seen before. They will start out flat on the ground for autonomous and shoot straight for the opposite end of the platform (opponents side), drop down into low gear on the file cards from a couple years ago and push the entire goal back towards their end of the field (thus making the opponents human shoot twice as far - and their students shoot 4 feet) after pushing the platform they will stand back up and unleash a long telescoping pole and grab the bar - and hoist themselves up to the top where they will then release a scissors mechanisms that severs the strings, cables, and ropes of all of the other hanging robots. But, because they are the gracious professionals that they are, they will slowly lower each of the opponents from the hooks that they had attached to them - prior to cutting them free! Can't wait until Midwest Regional this weekend to see their "Beast"!

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

anyone have any pictures or videos of 71's previous robots? Their website is sorta sparse and the videos are taking hours to download.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

http://www.firstrobotics.net/01galle.../071-1_gif.htm
http://www.firstrobotics.net/02galle.../071-1_jpg.htm
http://www.firstrobotics.net/03galle...0071-1_jpg.htm

There are pictures of the last 3 years of team beatty, 2001 and 2002 being a championship winning robot. I could not find a picture of '97 though, the other year they won.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Whatever they build, I know it will be a quality robot and a challenge to find a way to beat :] And so the anticipation for this Thursday builds...

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

In auton mode it will float to the 18 balls and suck them all up into a small basket that temporarily stores them in an alternate universe. Then it floats to the center platform grabs the 2x ball with a powerful suction device (not unlinke 267 Demolition Squad) then quickly sits in front of the chute waiting to feed the balls back to their human player (who will be an android with a 100% shooting accuracy). After Auton mode the robot feeds all of the balls to the android. Then caps the soon filled goal. And floats to the platform where it will sit on top of the bar. From the bar it can move side to side and efficiantly defend it. It's capper apendage will be telloscopic and easily be able to decap the opposition's stationary goal. It will also have a tractor beem to pull it's alliance partner onto the bar in the last 10.5 seconds of the game. :D
..

OR, they'll try and control the game like they have in past years (but with in reason). I foresee a very good hanging/capping system. And possibly a good autonomous mode. ;)

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

And all of this with nothin' but good ol' PVC! :D

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

There is a .zip file with all the yearbook pictures, including team 71's, on FIRST's website. It's not a big picture, but at least it's something.

http://www2.usfirst.org/2004comp/Events/

And here's a direct link to their picture.

http://dagnabit.org/~robotics/Team0071.jpg

So, what do you guys think?

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

i think thats a sweet practice field

as for the robot, i cant tell much. I dont think it can catch balls, but it looks like it may potentially do everything else.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I wish we had the time, resources, space, and funding to build a practice field like that....our autonomous could be unstoppable with a full-scale field.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Seeing how low it is sitting on the platform, I would imagine it gets up there much like WildStang does this year. They may have a small ball collector, but it's hard to tell :yikes:

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Don't mean to sound stupid, but since you obviously know, how does Wildstang get onto the platform? I've seen a picture of the robot but that's all. :confused:

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Wildstang raises their wheels using pneumatic cylinders.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Beatty will build a killer robot as always and thay might win this year as they have in the past.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Originally Posted by Jay Lundy
So, what do you guys think?




I think you should NOT have posted this on Chief Delphi. :(

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Yeah, I agree...bad move there

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I think that you should have team #71's permission first. If they wanted to post a pic of their bot, they would have.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Its really not that bad a move, all he did was go onto FIRST's website and look at the yearbook .zip file which is open to everyone.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

It may be technically open to everyone, but I don't think FIRST has intended it to be for everyone's personal use. If they wanted everyone to browse that publicly, they would have made index pages for those directories and posted them on the main site.

Oh well, too late now. I think we'll get over it.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

You know, I considered not posting, but, seriously, what harm is going to come of this? Some team is not going to build something or come up with some strategy to beat beatty from one small picture. If they wanted to go for the element of surprise, well they still have that. Their robot doesn't look like much from the picture, and it never does, but they always have some crazy design that manages to do everything effectively.

If I released a picture during the build period, then I would see something wrong with that, but no harm can possibly come from this.

And if FIRST didn't want them to be browsed publicly, they never would have uploaded them in the first place. It's not like a zip file magically appears on a webserver. If they just wanted to use it to transfer to multiple locations I'm sure they have private webservers they can use for that.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Although I agree with you about it coming up on the 4th week of regionals and its not like its late in the build so it doesn't make as much of a difference, you did get into FIRSTs site and get a hold of a file that really isn't supposed to be made public (from what Ive been told) until after The Championship Event. Although it was FIRST's blunder that they did not protect that directory, it was still a bad move. I'm sure the people at FIRST assumed that the participants of the competition would be a bit more gracious and professional when it comes to using their website and not abusing it.

Finally, you did go against a team's wishes and post a picture of their robot. Part of Hammond's tradition is to wait and unveil at the competition. Thats almost like an unwritten rule. If they wanted to unveil their robot now, they would have, but they didnt....they decided to wait. IMO, that really wasn't the smartest thing to do. If the team doesn't want a picture of their unreleased robot, that decision is totally up to them.

Although no major harm came out of this, I'm pretty sure there will be some angry people. Next time use your head and think if what you are going to do is in spirit of the competition.

Thats just my opinion..

-D.J.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

In no way did I abuse their website. They put a zip file in a directory which is meant for public access (the whole point of it is so people can find out who got awards). It may have been a mistake on their part, but please don't accuse me of abusing their website.

Untrue. I remember in 2002 they released a picture of their robot possibly during the build season but definately before their first regional and it was the cause of great specualtion on these forums.

Personally I enjoy it when people take such an interest in my team's robot that they go out of their way to post pictures of it or talk about it. Plus their first competition starts in 4 days.

If anyone from beatty would like me to remove the picture I would be glad to but I stand by my decision.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I remember last year, when Josh Hambright crashed CD when he posted the first pictures of the Beast after the practice day of the Midwest Regional. So many people tried to view them, that the server had to be reset because of it (or so the legend goes).

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I dont think getting a picture in any way from First's website is abusing their site. i think they posted a zip with all the pictures for other teams, so there is nothing wrong in getting the picture from there. If i knew it was there i would have seen it too. secondly i dont think think there is any reason to argue. Its just a picture i dont think 71 will be disappointed because of a picture. maybe they would be "aww darn" it got leaked before they wanted to show it at the regional. thats just my asumption and i dont think anyone should be annoyed because of that.
~ Akshay

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I think beatty wil go up, hang on the bar and have a Pepsi dispensing arm to deliver cold, refreshing Pepsi's to all the feild workers, judges, and refs for some brownie points ;)

As Beatty is winning over the judges approval, they would be breaking all the rules, but would go completely undetected because they have lured the judges into thier trap....

honestly, i hope the feild workers are coke drinkers..because then they would be immune against Beatty's cunning manuevers ;)

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Blasted Pepsi-robots, will they ever learn, Sprite always prevails.

Seriously, I can't wait to really see their robot, however, I have a regional the same week as theirs, so I don't suppose I'll get to see goo footage/pics of it until after my own regional.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

You know, it probably was a bad move on his part for not getting permission first. However, I don't think anyone should flame him over it, especially Beatty ;)

71 is a great team, they should feel honored to have the respect and admiration that so many teams give them, to the point that every year teams do stuff like this to get a sneak peak at their Beast :yikes:

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

But -- some things get overlooked, though, especially when pressed for time. They are busy with many more important things, I'm sure. I would think if they wanted these publically accessable on purpose, they would have a link to them or some sort of announcement.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

People, lets not continue the endless debate about whether or not you think it goes against team 71's wishes that this picture is posted in the forum. The only people who know that answer is team 71 themselves. If you really care about what they think, you should notify members on their team about this situation, and await their respond.

Jay has been around FIRST and this forum a long time now, and I have 100% faith that he will respect team 71's wishes to remove the post if that is indeed what they want. And if team 71 doesn't mind the picture in here, then we have no problem.

Let's try to resolve this conflict instead of having another ethical debate about what's right and wrong. If you want to recommend any more suggestions to Jay about what he should've done, send him a PM instead. I am sure he will appeciate your effort to make him a better poster.

a little consistency here?
 

Don't worry about it Jay - you did nothing wrong.

some observations:
* There is a thread in this forum asking about a particular robot.
* There is a public web site (FIRST) which made pictures of every robot accessible.
* Jay just posted a link sharing what he found with everyone else - which is what everyone seems to claim this forum is meant to do.
* If someone has a problem with that picture being available on a public web site - then complain to those who put it there (FIRST). If teams tell FIRST they would rather those pics not be made public in future seasons, then I'm sure FIRST will consider that.

The kid did exactly what CD encourages - took information he knew, that others were asking about, and shared it with others. Every person had access to see pictures of other robots on the FIRST site, it's not like Jay displayed some picture he illegally obtained. He just helped those who didn't know where to find the pictures he (and others) were able to view. Also, it's WEEK FOUR of the regionals - if some pic was displayed during the build cycle, then I could see how some secretive team might be upset. But in week 4? I guess the message being sent to Jay, 254, and other teams here is that they should stop being so open with their information - posting pics of their robots as they build them DURING the build cycle, explaining everything about their robot and what they do instead of keeping it secret, sharing code and programming info when teams ask, sharing information (like this picture) which they know of when OTHER teams ON THIS FORUM are asking to see. Instead, he gets flamed for doing exactly what the CD site claims to be all about - sharing information/knowledge you have found with others who are asking for that info.

Those who have a problem with it have a problem with FIRST. And to those who keep bringing up "permission" - again, your problem is with FIRST. I didn't see KenW or others asking "permission" from 254 or 60 to post totally fabricated and false information about their teams before he/they decided to do so a few weeks ago - but nobody flamed them for being so ungracious and irresponsible with their comments. If the feeling is that every person on CD should ask for direct permission from a team before posting any information about that team - fine - but be consistent and apply it across the board to ALL posts about ALL teams made by people not on those teams.

If people have an issue with those pictures being public, then they need to complain to FIRST. I haven't seen anyone form 71 criticize Jay, and even if they are disappointed the picture is out there, my guess is that they are surprised or upset FIRST made those pictures available to view - not that a student shared those public pics on CD.

Jay - thanks for sharing information you had access to with others who were asking for that info. If the CD web site feels that is now something they want to discourage, fine.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Hey folks! This is Team #71! Of course our robot walks on water!

All kidding aside, we are very flattered that there is so much interest in the BEAST 2004.

Here are some facts.

We did not think that the yearbook photo would be available until after the competition.

If some enterprising person can get the picture and post it, so be it. It is fair game. It was taken very early during the assembly phase of construction.

Our practice site and field (photo) are excellent. It's cost was minimal because most of the materials were donated by local suppliers. The field was constructed by the students, mentors, and mentor's wives. It was structurally finished in five days.

Looking forward to seeing all of our FIRST friends and making new ones at Evanston, Michigan, and Atlanta.

We wish everyone the very best of luck.

Bill

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Sexy field. Just wondering, are your ball tees light based activation, or just human activation for the ball drop? :)

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Can we assume that by the lack of white tape on the field that this year's Beast will not be tracking the line? I wonder what type of positioning system it has.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Two points:

1. Never assume anything. Ever. Especially when it comes to Beatty. :)
2. How do we know if the field was finished here? Maybe they laid the tape down afterwards

Still...tape tracking is horrendously slow, from what I've seen. I don't know what they're doing, but I'd guess that it doesn't involve the tape...even though we have no proof of that.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Is that carpeting from last year? I see marks that are look identical to the white tape that would have been torn off from the arced lines of last year. Very impressive field, ours is in a completely disassembled state and is (fairly) portable. This allows us to set up wherever we need to.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

even if tape tracking is slow, from most line trackers I have seen (at BAE at least), it works. It only needs to get you there in 14sec. even if it takes you all autonomous mode to get there, as long as you release the ball, not many bots are programmed to track 5pt balls to collect after they fall so autonomous speed isnt that much of a factor, at least when you are going for the 10pt ball (when trying to defend the other alliances 10pt, or grabbing a goal, speed does count)

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

More field facts

The ball chute door is held magnetically and is released by the trigger balls which are sitting on very low force limit switches or by manual switch.

The field is also equipped with both left and right IR beacons.

The carpet is from last year.

Regards,

Mr. Bill

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

It now appears from Mr. Bill's comments that they have an IR tracking system. I wouldn't assume that, but I would expect nothing less from Hammond. Tomorrow we will know for sure! Whatever it is, I'm sure we would have never guessed it.

What Dr. Joe Sees....
 

We can debate the rightness of FIRST releasing photos before a robot competes until the cows come home. But I have seen little discussion of what is IN the photo.

For what it is worth, I am confident that I see another falling Beast. In fact, it looks to me like there practice robot is in the background actually shown in its fallen position.

Am I wrong? I don't think so.

Time will tell.

My parents are very old. It is only right that I go visit them often. I think I will go this weekend in fact. Oh and did I mention that they live near Chicago? As long as I am in the area, I suppose I should drop by the Welsh-Ryan Arena to see how the Beast is running. ;-)

Joe J.

Re: What Dr. Joe Sees....
 

Joe,
I think you are seeing the 71-2003 robot. I can distinctly see the PVC "flailer" sticking up on the side closest to the camera. Not a 2004 clone... ;)

I can't wait to get word back from Chicago.

In a spin on last year's offer...

I'm officially offering a 6-pack of Dew to whoever manages to first post some detailed pictures and/or a detailed description of the latest BEAST. Inquiring minds want to know...

edit: Dew deal is off... sorry folks. /edit

So... don't keep us all in suspense. :)

John

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

You know your team has dedicated students, parents, and mentors when...(insert Beatty's field picture here) :D

Excellent job with the field, I love the design on the middle platform. And I'm very impressed that you automatically activate the ball drop. To steal a quote from Dr Joe "Can we come over and play?"

I agree with John, the bot in the background is the BEAST from 2003.

If you want to know so bad, hop on a plane & come see it in person ;) If I have some time Thursday morning, I'll give you the scoop.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Cost of plane ticket to Chicago: $200+
Time spent traveling/in Chicago: 48+ hours

Cost of Dew: $2
Time spent on Computer gawking at Beatty Robot and watching webcasts: 8+ hours

Finding out what the 3 time national champion does from the comfort of your dorm room without wasting (too much) valuable studying time: Priceless

The best things in life are free, for everything else there's Chiefdelphi.



Though... I think I'm going to have to cancel the Dew offer.
I've already made a better deal... heh ;)

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

As others have said, the robot in the background is definitely the 2003 robot. You can see red, white, and blue stickers on two sides of it and I have never seen a practice robot with stickers on it before (then again this is Beatty).

As for this years robot, BEAST 2004, it looks as though it will not fall like the BEAST 2002. Look at the picture, three wheels are pointed to the bottom left corner in the picture, with the fourth wheel hidden. All four of these wheels are on the ground. If it did indeed fall, there are no wheels/walkers on the top of the robot to drive around with.

The other guarantee I am making is that they are using the exact same arm mechanism and technology from the BEAST 2001, the game with the bridge on the fulcrum. Look at the vertical PVC on the robot (not the PVC on either the mobile goal or stationary goal). Now, checkout their robot's picture from 2001: http://www.firstrobotics.net/01galle.../071-1_gif.htm. This robot's PVC arms look very similar to this year's arms. And, remember they are attempting to achieve the same task - pick up a 30" ball.

No more guarantees from me, but here is what I can deduce from the rest of the picture. They have pneumatics, look at the compressor mounted at the bottom left of the robot. Battery is mounted low to ground, look at the front and center of the robot - right next to the compressor.

I am completely baffled as to why the aluminum tubing for the frame is bent like it is on the left hand side. Also, there is a PVC piece that is horizontal at the top of the robot.

I guess I will make two predictions for Beatty 2004. First, they are not relying on hanging often or ever! I know this may be suprising and I am very likely wrong, but I think that this is a ball rolling machine.

Lots of you have been impressed with Team 33 and their ball rolling capabilities. I think that Beatty will be similar to this - they will go around and grab lots of little balls. The only difference between 33 and the Beast is that the best will be able to cap the goal to double those small balls. Beatty probably figures that they will be able to score enough balls to not have to worry about hanging. The reason I say that they are a ball rolling machine is because they have a real wide robot and their electronics are mounted vertically.

Well this is just what I have been thinking, but we will find out for sure in a few hours! Good luck to everyone at the Midwest Regional.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Their big ball grabber worked well in 2001, so thats coming back. Their small ball mechanism was partially decent in 2000, so it probably didn't make the final cut. However, they may have wings for corralling. 2003 technology has probably inspired the hanging mechanism. And they'll probably do it from off the platform. I don't know what they would use from their 2002 robot. That was quick and dirty. Now I'll go look at the thumbnail image of their robot..

[edit: with that much room in their robot, I hope they have a small ball mechanism :)]

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I just have one thing to say about the Beatty Robot if 254 gets to play them in the Nationals.......


"Show me where they are!"

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

based on this qoute, i believe that they are going to control the multiplier balls. all three of them. this is the only strategy that i could think of that i haven't seen yet, but then again, i've only seen 4 regionals, and i'm not very creative when it comes to strat.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Thats what we were going to try and do (note that I am mentoring 1064 now and no longer am a part of 71)...we had a pretty decent design for it. But alas, time got the best of us, and with a lack of manpower and resources, the 2004 WildBeast has no doubler ball control anymore (but it will still be a force to contend with though, we hope!)

I hope someone out there can pull off this task...I know there are some that can control 2 of the balls, but all 3 is a sight to behold.

Kev

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

(190)^3 + 93 = ?

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

John,

I'm going to MIT next year, so I love numbers, but you have me completely stumped as to what this means! What in the world does this have to do with 71's bot? :D

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Take what team 190's robot can do and triple that ability (hanging with some big ball capability) and then add in a little bit of team 93 (catching the small balls off the dump).....that combination would be awesome :D .

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

6859093 ?

It seems like there'd be very little point in being able to do that, in my mind.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Good call! Right after I posted, I realized that maybe he was talking about 190's bot, but I am not recalling 93's. Good catch.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I think what John is saying (and I hesitate to ever try and interpret what he's saying) is that Beatty will be able to hold three big balls and control the bar and the goals the way team 190 can, plus they'll be able to catch the balls from the BDS much like team 93.

If Beatty pulls this off it may be more impressive than their awesome feats of 2001 and 2002. Although it may end up being overkill. Either way it will be interesting to see.

Bring on the photos. I'm willing to add another 6 pack of Dew to John's offer for the first detailed pics of Beatty's robot.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

It's ^3 not *3.... ;)

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

No need to be so wide at the top, bring it in and center that CG!

Also, if they were just hearding balls, why would they be able to get onto the platform?


Wetzel

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Wetzel,

I think there is more to it than just CG, it something to do with their design - still no reason to use the PVC...

Do you know for a fact that Beatty can get on the platform? I believe that if Beatty does hang, it could possibly be from the carpet. If they hung from the carpet, they could then herd, hence their low rider robot.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Why? To remove other robots from the bar, of course. Unless they could pull this feat off from the ground. Now that would be amazing.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Weight is less too by headed inward at the angle rahter then the two other sides of the triangle.

They were on the platform in the yearbook picture. Because they didn't think anyone would see it, there is no reason to think they are playing any mindgames with us.

I suspect they have a way up, either by raising and lowering their drive wheels like 225 does, or cams like 16 (which where REALLY cool), or something else, they can get up there.


Wetzel

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Well, it's Thursday evening so I guess this needs to be asked,

Has anyone seen Beatty's robot in action yet???

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

We need toget someone to post pics.....

The whole country is asking for Beatty!

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

We do, and it saved us in the final match at VCU.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Can someone at least describe the 71 robot?

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I'm pulling my hair out here as well. Its 9:30, but still nothing.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Ok folks.. here it is.. after all that suspense...

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Okay guys, Here i am at Chicago for the Midwest regional and Beatty has unleashed the beast. So here is the run down. They are a tall bot with a lot of functions. At the beggining of the day they only had a 2X ball grabber, and a goal grabber. However, i talked to them and asked what was to come. They said they were still adding the hanger, and an apparatus to catch the balls from the drop. At the end of the day, it looked like all things were relatively together.

Summary: awesome fast bot with tons of features.

Good luck 71, looks great.
And good luck to anybody who has to face them.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

I knew it, Team Hammond built a self-propelled trash can!

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Hmm... I guess it can't get on the bar this year then, or get small or big balls, eh? Heheh.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

But you forget the grappling hook! They obiously use a flying magentic hook thing to hang on the bar.


Wetzel

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Dear Team Hammond,

Please accept my apologies for "Dr. Bot's" outburst; he must have forgotten to take his medication again.

I know I speak for ALL members of team 254 when I say that we would much rather play with you than against you. You run a top notch program and consistently build some of the best robots in the country.

Here's wishing you good luck throughout the season and hoping that we are lined up on the same side of the field.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

Actually, as a member of Team 254 I would love to play either with or against Beatty. To face them in competition would be a tremendous and exciting challenge. Good luck to all.

Re: Beatty's 2004 Robot
 

well, watching them in a match at chicago, they capped while going up to hang, very impressive.