Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

Well what if you could control how much you wanted, you know actively change from a heavier bot to a lighter bot in the middle of a match, you could start moving by being light, "make" yourself heavy if you don't want to be pushed etc.

I do have an idea for this, but I'm trying to stimulate the thinktank, see what else people come up with :)

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

car steering might make a comeback this year......seeing as how tank drive wouldent turnas well,(drifting around with the trailer would take some getting use to though)

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

I believe R06 would only apply to the wheels being "used" - that is, the ones touching the ground. The configuration would then be legal, since the wheels not satisfying R06 would not be in use.

Such an omniwheel would have nearly triple the traction of a single Rover Wheel.

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

Reading R06... It says to me that no devices at all (making contact or not) may be used as a "traction device". The intent is that all robots have similiar traction on the surface. Increasing your force via suction would be a "traction device" in my mind

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

Some quick suggestions off the top of my head:

Giant Flywheel. For resistance to bumps and bruises, spin up a giant flywheel to help you conserve momentum.

Traction Control. This was mentioned before, but I'll summarize the idea of a traction control system. In a car, you compare the speed of the powered wheels to the unpowered wheels. If there is a difference, that means one set is slipping while the other isn't. The computer cuts a bit of power to the driven wheels until both spin at the same rate. For a 4-wheel vehicle, you can use an accelerometer to get the differential measurement.

Mariocart for Driver Training. Mariocart invented drifting. Blue sparks may be a safety hazard, though.

Pneumatics as Thrusters. Satellites use gas thrusters to control direction. If the surface is low enough friction, this could act as a nice stability augmentation.

Antilock Brakes. Antilock brakes don't necessary cut down on braking distance, but rather they give you control WHILE braking. If you slam on a car that doesn't have antilock brakes and you lock the wheels, the car basically keeps moving in the direction of its momentum vector, regardless of which direction the steering wheel is pointing (conservation of momentum). With antilock brakes, you're switching between static friction and dynamic friction, and in a nut shell, this gives you some control (ie allows you to swerve around the object you're braking for).

Physics 101. Actually, Physics 8.01. For the truly adventurous, check out Walter Lewin's physics videos on MIT's OCW, specifically the lecture dealing with friction. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-...il/embed08.htm. This is roughly equivalent to an AP Physics class.

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

zyck I think you and I are on the same train of thought. Still wondering about how to implement it though. Lets see if anyone else comes up with it.

Btw. Has anyone thought of just hanging out in the carpet and speeding around everyone? you'd have to be a great shot with those balls but it would be tough to score on you

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

ive seen bakes before....would be tricky to get anti-lock brakes,although i dont think they would help that much, maybe if you had traction control and anti-lock brakes?

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

All this talk about effectively driving in these low-friction conditions. I would instead think of how the other parts in your kit can help you score DESPITE the poor driving controllability conditions.
Two things off the bat I saw in the kit and my concrete memory of team 25 in 2006. The lazy susan turet (or equivalent) and the camera. ;)

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

Yes, we thought about staying on the carpet but we decided it would be a bad idea because like he said, you would be an easy target and you will only be able to have at most 1/2 of your robot on the carpet.


P.S. How do you guy get thebluealliance name thing on there?

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

Mray

We thought of this, but our team decided not to do it Because;
A.) too much fabrication (time money etc)
B.) too much tuning to get it right (time)

But basically Thrust downward, with it you could dynamically control weight throughout the match, getting advantages of heavier btos and lighter bots, whenever you needed it.

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

I dont think they will allow anti-lock brakes. They said at the kick-off that the only thing that can control the speed of the tires are the new jaguars and the old things. (I forgot what they are called.)

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

Very carefully

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

I still need help on thebluealliance thing please.

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

You can pulse "brakes" electronically. Plus you can control the coast/brake setting on the jaguars with the Digital outputs

Re: How can we drive on this new floor?
 

The "old things" are Victor 884 speed controllers from IFI.

Antilock brakes and traction control are implemented using software and sensors. The Victors or Jaguars are still used to control the motors.