pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

I watched you guys on the webcast; you broke alot of predictions and seem to be successful at many things people say wouldn't work well...like

1. Turning around to hurdle
2. Having a bump in the front of your bot for the ball to have to jump
3. Lifters are slower than launchers

I'm curious though, which side is the one with less power? From the pic it doesn't look like you're using a differential + 1 power plant so I'm assuming one side has the RS-540 and the other has the RS-550 banebots motors. Was there a noticable bias to the driver?

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

Thanks-

the left side is slightly weaker but gearing the different gearbox modules adjusts for the different motor specs. Theoretically the output of each of the twin motor modules with the FP-Banebot pairs is equivalent to the output of the CIMs used. Each side of the drivetrain has 3 motors and roughly equivalent power. We chose to have the weaker side on the inside to accomodate the turning on the field ends.

WC

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

Beautifully designed machine. The fabricated arms look really sweet as well. Autonomous was un-matched. Play nice with the Hawaiian teams and Cali teams guys:p I hope they all put on an awesome show. :)

Ohh, I missed the thing about a custom IR board. Sounds cool. Self made or did you guys get it from somewhere? I'd sure like to see what's so different and effective about it after seeing that amazing autonomous.

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

The IR system was the result of student research and finding a new sponsor. When the game was announced the team spent Sunday looking into what IR systems were all about and discovered that there were various ranges of IR senders/receivers. On Monday the committee went to Radio Shack and asked all about IR only to be told "huh". So they asked them where they would go for IR information.
To make a long story short- the kids tracked down a small company, IR Solutions, that builds IR Systems and went to them with a proposition to become our sponsor. Liking the initiative of the kids, the company owners (a couple of young guys who work largely over the net) decided they would like to go head to head with the Motorolas and other big names on the team list and they worked with us to develop a seemingly unstoppable IR system. The hardware was made by them, the programming done in Shaun's kitchen by Kristian and Alexa and overall Bharat ran the systems all over the Northeast and made sure we installed it right.

I am VERY proud of how the team took on the problem and did all the legwork to develop the IR system. In my opinion to develop a team of students that can independently research, develop and implement a solution to a problem is one of the most satisfying accomplishments of FIRST. And knowing when and where to go for help is a sign of wisdom.

The NJ Regional was a challenge for us. Things went wrong. As our shirts confessed we are "clearly mortal" and success was no way guaranteed. Frankly, our friendship with 103 played a big role in our success solving our issues and I am very thankful they allied with us. Their robot was clearly the top machine out there this weekend.
Our robot was designed to play with helper bots and I am still assuming we will have numerous limited robots in Hawaii that we can favorably interact with. NJ was the home town where we wanted to do our best and get the bugs out. The rest of the season will just be pure fun and improvement.

Not to ramble even further let me say that I do this for fun. I've tried to build pride in our team and its accomplishments and I know that sometimes they get a little cocky. I'll kick them a bit if we get too offensive- let me know via PM. I hope everyone had fun this past weekend and the rest of the season is as fulfilling and thrill packed as ours has been so far.

Good Luck

WC :rolleyes:

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

Watched u guys on the webast u guys where great

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

So have you guys developed a custom gearbox that houses three motors, or does one motor (single gearbox with single motor) drive one wheel directly?

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

They appear to have two gearboxes per side; One for the small CIM and one for the combined FP and 540/550. All their wheels are linked via gears though, so it doesn't matter how many gearboxes there are.

Also, 3 motor gearboxes are not unheard of, many teams have built them in the past.

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

You are correct. We decided to use the 2 CIMS for our mast instead. We figured you did not have to drive completely straight in this game since you had to keep turning anyway.

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

Wayne and fellow team members,

Team 987 congratulates you and your alliance for their hard fought victory this weekend. We watched the webcast and were pulling for you guys...hope you continue to have success and we look forward to visiting you in Atlanta. Great looking robot again!

Re: pic: 25's 2008 Robot
 

You beat me to it Barry,

Great Job in Jersey, the team enjoyed watching the regional. See you in ATL

-Keaton