IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

Some very important changes that have been made this year that I noticed after reading all the pdf's in full detail. Many teams have started discussion on bots including mine (710) and have gone unaware of these changes, and started CAD'ing there bots to the wrong specs.

Important changes that were not highlighted:

1. Weight has dropped to 120, but the battery including connector will not be weighed in during inspection

2. Robot size has dropped 2 inches in width but grown 2 inches in length. New size is 28x38x60

3. During finals there will no longer be Alternates. A standby team will be chosen from the top ranking seeds and will replace the team that is inoperable. The team that was replaced cannot rejoin any of the following matches but will still be "in" the alliance. An alliance can only have one standby team.

4. No Drill motors will be provided this year, but there is an addition of a new mabuchi motor

5. Field size is 27 ft. wide and 54 ft. long (2 feet wider and 4 feet longer)

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

4. No drill motors :ahh:

Wayne Doenges
CAD Mentor

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

Peter, you forget one other...

5. Field size... its 27 ft. wide and 54 ft. long. :)


-Arefin.

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

LOL thats not important to me though :)

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

An Ode to Drill Motors...

Heres to Makita, Milwaukee, Bosch...you powered drive trains I'll always remember...the likes of Atlas and Hexcalibur, tank drives both. You pushed freshman around the cafe on team information night. You gave your all, stripped a few gears, and blew a few clutches. You powered many a team to Victor(y). So long old friends....

I know that they've pretty much been replaced by globe motors as the favorite for drive systems, but being so old school it is sad to see the drill motors go. They've been a staple of the FIRST kit of parts since, well probably not the begining but darn close I'd imagine. One more thing that I can bring out at a compention to get weird looks from rookies in a few years ;-)

Good luck to all teams this year...should be a fun game,

Justin

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

I sure hope your not powering your drive with globes!

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

but a sweet $350 camera system

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But we get 2 more atwoods, which are so much better than the bosch's anyway.

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I think "globe" is just his nickname for the already multi-named CIM / Chipua / Atwood motor.

<_<
>_>

Yeah, that must be it. :p

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The globe motors are much smaller than the CIM motors.

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Not really. When comparing the power vs. torque between the cims and the drills, the drills won out.

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That's good about the weight... You actually have more weight to work with... The battery is 13 pounds... So technically you have 3 extra pounds to work with... WOOT!

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

But the extra Atwoods replacing the drills will nearly add the three pounds back.

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

I think the fact that alternates have been eliminated is extremely significant.

On the upside, an alliance won't be left stranded in the case of a mechanical malfunction. Since strategy is paramount it will be important to have as many functioning robots available as possible. Also, this will give teams that were balanced on the edge a chance to make it into finals when they may not otherwise get that chance. I'm sorry if I missed this part, but how exactly would these alternates be picked?

On the downside, a team won't be able to reenter competition even if they fix themselves. This puts a lot of stress in the alliance. So if the standby team breaks, they're essentially stuck again. I wonder if there will be any team updates on this subject?

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I agree. Drill motors = nice!!

Also I do like the new camera system.:D

Even though the field is bigger I think it still a little bit small for 6 robots. :ahh:

And last but not least the 3 extra pounds may not seem like much, but it is nice. I remember being less than a pound over weight, and the extra 3 pounds would have been really nice there. ;)

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Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

That's a sad thing...
:(

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

Trust me, come competition time, you will still be at least 1 pound over weight even though you have an extra 3 pounds to work with.

Luckily, this is not a problem, because it is very possible to remove as much as 4 pounds from your robot by drilling holes in non-structural components. This is probably the coolest part of the project, carefully swiss cheesing your bot. :yikes:

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Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

Lol, yeah, i am sure it will still be a bit over weight. However the robot that I was talking about was already "swiss cheesed". Yes drilling holes is fun, however I think that goes into the "freshman job field" right beside filing. :D

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Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

yeah especially when our drive coach (Moe) caught a team drill holes and draining the battery and weighing 13 pounds less... Its too bad we have to result to this... but its a good thing...

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I just noticed another significant change today... Only one air storage tank :( Keep your pnuematics systems small!

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:ahh: :ahh: WHAT??????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :( (Wheres the crying face when i need it) Hehe, pneumatics is fun :D

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last year: 129.9 lbs
year before: 129.9 lbs

prediction for this year: <drum roll> 120.00!!!

i like to call them "speed holes"... :cool:

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All I can say is NICE, lol

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But the 'atwoods' run at a much lower rpm, negating the use of MORE gearing down. If you ask me the point is null

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

I think u guys overlooked another important change.......time!!! This year, competition is 2:15 instead of just 2 minutes.

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

Yes, true, that extra 15 seconds can be very useful. I remember last year we capped a goal and barely got our arm off the ball, and then the buzzer rang. The refs had to look at that for a while. :D But of course i am sure similar things will happen in this years competition.

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I'm gonna hvae to go through the rules and see the different changes... there is a lot of them it seems...

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Are you sure about only one air tank? I could swear it said two but I will have to go back and look again. And last year I was a freshman (the only one on the team though with only seven people total that isnt saying much), but after the final week of build season I never again want to lay eyes on a drill motor. Someone said something about drilling holes in non structural parts of the bot. We (by which I mean I) drilled holes in everything except the batteries, pneumatics, and electrical stuff. And we (I) did most of it using a handheld AC powered Milwauke drill with dull bits, and it just about tore my hand off no less than twenty times. Im looking forward to having younger people on the team this year........ :rolleyes:

Re: IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!
 

They only give you one in the kit but you can order more. You can have a max of 2 storage tanks total. Thats how it was last year and I am pretty sure of it.

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I think we may be overlooking a fairly significant change from last year. According to the Rules you are only allowed to use the 2 batteries from the kit at competition. With 4 power hungry CIMs this year having a charged battery ready for you next match is going to be an issue. Especially for the teams that go with a 4 CIM drive train plus whatever motors are used to drive the arms or manipulators.

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As I read <R87>, it states you may only use the compressor, and air storage tanks included in the kit.

And since the kit only contained one this year, I was thinking that we are limited to just the one. Perhaps an update may change this....

OH WAIT.... - TEAM UPDATE #1....

YOU MAY ACQUIRE A 2ND TANK FROM INNOVATION FIRST!!! I GUESS THIS MEANS WE CAN USE TWO?