Re: Simple things you can do to make your bot/team perform better
 

We wrote a checklist on the side of our gearbox. =)
-check that you're on the right autonomous code
-are the breakers in?!
-is the radio connected?! (at BOTH ends of the cable)
-is the robot on?

And yes, we did miss out on matches for each of those reasons. Luckily those were only practice rounds. We'd perfected the whole checklist system by the time we got to the qualifying rounds.

In reference to what Ken said about ball herders: We had a similar problem. We drilled holes into the lexan plates that functioned as our "wings" and wove pneumatic tubing through those holes. The balls primarily came in contact with the tubing and not the lexan, which had a lower coefficient of friction.

Hey, it worked. =)

Re: Simple things you can do to make your bot/team perform better
 

Wow, we didn't really test the robot out before we got to the regionals, we had a whole truck load of problems. So we needed alot of help. So I think we may want to pick up the pace next year. Instead of slacking off. I'm still agonizing over the problem with too little people.

Re: Simple things you can do to make your bot/team perform better
 

If you are using something cylindrical for herding balls, we suggest using PVC rollers. Cut the PVC a little bigger than the rod that's herding (and try to have another in the front of the robot), and just slip them on. Ken's solution is more universally applicable but if you can use them, PVC works wonders. We've never ridden up on a ball and managed to herd really well in Sacramento.

Re: Simple things you can do to make your bot/team perform better
 

i would say that it is important to define roles...
know who will be driving and hping the matches.
know the scouts and who to go to for strategy
know who is supposed to be in the pits (repair and judge's team)

also...it is always good to attempt to stay with one strategy as long as possible throughout the competition. this lets the drivers become better at knowing robot timing issues and capabilities.

Re: Simple things you can do to make your bot/team perform better
 

this is something I was thinking about yesterday. We are done for the year except for expo matches, but I still want to try it on our bot.

in control systems there is a concept called 'jogging' - its when you normally move something fairly quickly but sometimes you want to bump it just slightly to one side or the other - and some control systems have a JOG button that does this

on our bots the Victor speed controls reduce the speed of the motors by chopping or pulseing the 12VDC to the motor on and off - when you want the bot to move slowly it puts out a short pulse of 12V, then nothing for a few mS, then a pulse...

it works well mostof the time - but when you want to nudge the bot just a slight bit forward, or to the left, then sometimes its not enough or its too much

you could implement a jog function in your code by counting SW loops - for example, then the jog button is pushed, turn both PWM drive motors on full for one SW loop, then turn them off - or turn them on full for one SW loop, then turn them off for 37 loops, full on for one, off for 37...

this would be like taking a hammer and tapping your bot once per second - when you just need to nudge it over to line up with a 2X ball, or the ball corral, or to get exactly under the bar to place your hook

if being full on for one SW loop jogs the bot too far, you could try half power, or 1/4 power

I think this will work really well and cant wait to try it on our bot - if anyone else trys it let us know how it works for you.

Re: Simple things you can do to make your bot/team perform better
 

What we did is put a piece of pvc pipe that can spin so everytime the ball would try to go under, the pipe would just spin and make the ball bounce off. I don't know if you guys understood that but the idea works. I'll try to get a picture to you guys.

Re: Simple things you can do to make your bot/team perform better
 

I posted in another thread that we discovered the silicon spray magic when we changed the ball collector net on our bot to a plastic box in the pits at buckeye

we got it all done and it wouldnt work - the first ball went up ok but the next one under it forced the top one to twist against the back wall of the box and wedge against the second one

we were ready to take it off and put the net on, but decided to give the silicon spray a shot - it worked perfectly after that - we were able to consistantly get 6 or 7 balls from the floor into our collection box.

in fact we got a nicely done award from another team for 'best ball collector' :^)