Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

I was just curious to know how many examples we have of teams that have successfully run the "Y" in autonomous? We finally got ours to work at our first regional on Saturday and it was a joy to watch. I am guessing not many teams did it as it is my opinion that it was better to just use other methods if you had them available.

I did not see any other teams do at Midwest, but I was also very busy and did not get a chance to see all of the matches.

So to get the list started:

1987

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

our robot has successfully run the Y... just not on the competition field. We have yet to be in a match where both of our alliance members could place an ubertuber... Since straight is more reliable in general, we've always put the robot that doesn't move in autonomous in the middle.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Team 74 did the Y line a few times in Niles. We usually do the straight line when there are three robots that do auton but when there are only two we tried and did the Y line.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

You can add 1351 to your list of teams that can take the "Y".

Using line trackers, we can follow the reflective tape and use it to take the "Y" and score on the top tier in autonomous.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Going straight just seems easier...Also we felt that trying to follow the line was to slow and it would take away the possiblity of our two tube auton we run.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

2439 did it. http://regionalwebcast.com/sandiego/...inals-Match-14

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

2137 can do the Y also, high pegs, either way. Straight is more reliable, so we have only done that in competition so far.... This week will be our 2nd District, so hopefully we will have an opportunity to prove it on the field.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

294 line followed straight during the LA quals, but used our Y auto exclusively in the elims to much success. Our alliance put up 3 uber tubes a couple of times. We use 3 line sensors and an ultrasonic to get the distance right.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

We, 3018, can do it in practice, and we will see about doing it in competition this week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b90TGIKbB80

P.S. The tape is yellow so there is enough contrast between the floor and the tape. We followed successfully at the scrimmage we went to.

Hans

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

714 did it a Chesapeake. Their alliance with 836 & 237 hit 3 tube autos frequently.

I am not a big fan of line following, it is too slow and jerky for me. We did it it as an exercise for the student programmers on the 6wd development bot but never intended to use it on the competition bot. Just ignore the lines and drive straight to the pegs using gyro, even if you are in the middle. We put a single line sensor on to allow for auto minibot alignment, but I don't think the drivers have needed it

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Team 2537 did the Y at the Washington DC regional a couple times. We bought some extra line sensors to improve reliability

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

It is great to hear that many other teams did this. A few thoughts based on comments so far:

1. Doing it in practice and doing it in a match are two very different things. We could do it in practice but when we got to competition the black tape coming out of the "Y" on the field forced us to adjust the sensitivity on the sensors.

2. The straight line is definitely easier so the "Y" is not needed in most instances. I think we will see in the last two weeks and at nationals that the teams who can do the middle (using any method really) will shine.

3. The "Y" was pretty difficult. We found that one has to have enough motor power to overcome initial inertia, but not to much power to make the sensors inoperable. We had to find the correct speed for both straight and cornering to make it work. We also found that a fresh battery makes a huge difference.

I would love to more video of this being done successfully.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

I'm proud to add team 548 to the list of teams who successfully navigated the Y and posted uber tubes on the top rack in autonomous. We actually exclusively used this mode at our Ann Arbor district on Saturday to test its reliability. Unfortunately during elimination rounds one of our four motors broke and we could no longer navigate the Y - no worries, we followed the line straight and hung the uber tube successfully during our last match.

We follow the line using line sensors and have found the algorithm, once perfected, to be quite reliable. We measure distances using the average of the encoders on left/right motors. We're looking forward to using our autonomous modes to our advantage at the Michigan State tournament and (hopefully) at championships!

Videos will be up soon. :)

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

We were alliance partners with these guys for eliminations in San Diego and it was pretty impressive. Mecanum wheels probably helped a lot in programming it. They ended San Diego with one of the most consistant autonomous modes there.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

As of about two days ago, Team 195 can do the "Y."

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

The "Y" is probably only useful for showing off, although we're prepared to use it in the case where we get 3 robots with autonomous modes. It looks awesome with mecanum wheels--check it out: http://pobots.com/index.php?option=c...rack&Itemid=96.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Our team did it in both New York and Hawaii.
In the eliminations in Hawaii, both 359 and 368 did it on the same set of pegs which was really awesome to see. We stopped after a while since it was hard to see, depending on which driver station we were assigned to.

IMO, an alliance not able to score as quickly as the other should consider this when picking alliance partners. It would allow for less logos on the rack to keep up with a better scoring opposing alliance. With tube starvation tactics, that might end up working well against your opponent.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

We could do it on a practice robot, and it was more reliable than the straight code.

Then, we got to competition.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Sparks 2751 did the Y autonomous. very successful with it too. their mecanum drive helped.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

How are you all having so much success with the line/photo/what-ever-you-call-them sensors. we could never get them to give us consistent readings in our shop so we didn't even want to try it at the regional. Plus I have heard some problems with dirty tape?

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Like I said earlier, it was hard. We found the key being setting the sensitivity of the sensors when we got to the competition. We went to the practice field and watched the lights on the sensors while moving the robot around above the tape (including the nice black tape that is on the field). Once we did that our code that we had working at home seemed to work pretty well, but there was still some adjusting to the straight line and cornering speed for us. We use a meccanum drive also, but don't drive straight with a gyro. Instead we actually corner the robot.

You can see it in action at 2:01 to 2:11 in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Broncobo.../6/e1xuGX7l4j8

Message me if you want more information.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

I am very proud to now add Team 230 to the list of successful scoring on the center "forked" line in autonomous. :D I didn't want to jinx it by posting that we could do it before it worked at a competition. We successfully scored several times using this mode at the CT Regional. In fact we were part of the first allliance at that regional (with 383 and 69) to score 3 ubertubes. The only time we missed would have scored but our alliance partner was in the way and although we were pushing them out, time ran out before they were moved enough.

I also want to interject that using the side-slide of the mecanum wheels really improves the reliability of this mode since alignment becomes a non-issue. It is a beautiful thing to watch.

I completely disagree. It is going to be even more important at Championships. Since many of the teams there will have a reliable straight line autonomous, those that can score reliably on the forked line or those that can score 2 will be in demand during alliance selection. Of course, as we all know, reliability is always paramount.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

We did it several times at the CT Regional. In fact, we were 100% accurate in autonomous mode, never failing to place an ubertube. Our tube hanging in teleoperated was pretty good too; I think only once did we fail to make a logo on the top row, and that was when we were the only offensive threat on our alliance, so our opponents wisely double teamed us. Now, when we got that minibot working for Battlecry . . . watch out!!

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

I claim that 987, The High Rollers, have the most successful "Y" auto since it hangs 2 tubes. It starts at the Y, uses line trackers to turn at the angle, hangs the first tube. Then it backs up at the same angle grabs partner's tube that is centered on the straight line, and use the straight line to hang the 2nd tube. You can see this unique auto in any of 987's archived Las Vegas matches.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

1126 has successful Y capabilities, we just used straight more often (at FLR).

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Thanks Lucas! We love the line sensors this year :-) Our 'Y' is now better than our straight line auto which needs some tweaking but probably won't get used again! We even use another type of line sensor for the limit switches in our arm: http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/958

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

After week #1 and seeing how many teams scored from straight on at one rack or the other, we decided to focus on scoring from the middle starting pos. to the outer top right (square from the field perspective) and became proficient scoring from here in auton. at Niles. Had a couple nice matches with 3 top row uber-alliances!

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

624 inadvertantly did the "Y" during one of our first Thursday matches. The other two bots on our alliance already went onto the field, taking the straight-line positions, and were back at their driver's stations when we went to put our out bot. Afraid that our bot was going to end up hitting the wall, we were shocking/amazed/freaked out when the line tracking ended up leading "CRyptosaur" along the bifurcating reflective tape to follow the "Y". Though I can't seem to remember if we actually successfully hung a tube during that match... For some reason I'm thinking not. ;)

From that point forward, we only used the side starting positions.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

I found that they were simple to use and quite reliable. Our auton worked 100% at Connecticut with the exception of a close call that came about from some accidental contact from a neighboring robot though the tube was still on the peg. We have working Y code, however a broken light sensor led to incomplete tests and the ability to not run it reliably. We haven't used it at a competition, but it worked in practice fairly reliably (9/10 times-ish).

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Your absolutely right! We are able to hit it very consistently now. We hung 2 two tubes in every eliminations match. We missed only 3 times during the regional due to unfortunate circumstances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kYSZ...el_video_title14.7 seconds.

I hope that team 987 gets a chance to team up with 365 this year in St. Louis, we loved playing with you guys in 2008! I have not had a chance to see your bot yet, but I'm sure it's sweet!

Good luck in Philly!

-Keaton

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Couldn't agree more! We were also 100% successful in following the line in autonomous both at CT and WPI regionals. If you are having trouble with the line following I suggest that you check the calibration of the sensors (ie. make sure they are triggering on the tape and not on the carpet by looking at the indicator light on the sensor) and make sure there are no errors in your code (eg. like you are accessing the wrong digital port).

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

1023 can! We did it in the practice matches at livonia. We were never with 2 other robots who had autonomous in Qualifications or Elims. I have a feeling thats going to change at MSC.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Team 1987 (Broncobots) were able to successfully do the Y in Autonmous and hang an ubertube high.
Source: Midwest Competition

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Team 3507 did at some practice matches in Dallas using a kind of PI loop in Java, but the one time we used it during actual matches, our bot ended up getting blocked by our alliance members. We also plan to try to pick up two tubes, as ours is a second peg robot, and will probably need to get the most out of autonomous in order to have a really good chance at nationals.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

After Troy District, 2337 realized that a Y autonomous would be ridiculously useful at the Michigan State Championship. Many teams have straight-forward line tracking programs that perform well.

For our program, we line-follow down the center line a set distance, then we turn a certain direction, skippin over the black tape (which, I'm sure, has messed others up), line track along that line, and then hang the tube.

Unfortunately, I can't find Youtube proof, but I know we used it for at least one match at MSC.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

I believe 1860's "Y" autonomous worked very well in New Jersey.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Team 1023 did run the Y successfully in Livonia and at MSC although we found out in eliminations that it is also dependent of one of the two robots on either side backing out of our way so that we don't collide. We ran it successfully every time we tried it until eliminations when we needed it most. The first attempt, we bumped our partner knocking them off track with their tube. The second attempt we went the other branch and successfully placed our tube but blocked our partner from getting theirs on. We ended up going to the edge and having 27 run a straight line in the middle. It was the first unsuccessful Y for us.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

team 1522 successfully scored on the y multiple times at our practice field but only succeeded once in regional play out of three attempts

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Thanks,
In the eliminations for North Carolina, it was nice to bring that to the alliance. It allowed us to do the 3 ubers. I hope it comes in handy at worlds too.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

As a rookie team (3591) we were the only team at the Buckeye regional that seemed to be able to consistently hand in the Y in competition. I think we were 10 out of 11 for our autonomous. Seeing three top rung ubbertubes was a thing of beauty up there. Our robot had no mini bot, so we didn't even make it into elims.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Well I can say that 2137 finally has run the "Y" in competition. At MSC, we did it once at practice.
Once on the field.
Once again on the field on Friday.
Then in our last match on Friday, it failed, jumped off the line before the Y turned, found the line again, and followed it away from the peg and dropped the tube... :)

We revised the code Friday night, tested Saturday morning, a used it in all of the elimination matches.

Our autonomous straight line was 100% through 2 districts, and MSC and the "Y" was 8/9. (We had straight line failures, but not following line.. loosing air pressure at Kettering finals, changed gripper, and getting stuck on exit, and knocking off the tube... etc. the program was 100%) :)

Bedford, 1023, one thing I noticed at MSC, was the elevator bots when doing the Y get pretty tight when you get to the pegs with your neighbor. The lever bots like ours, the tube is out front more, and we stop before getting too tight to our neighbors. Not saying it is better, just making an observation, something to think about when dividing up who does what line...

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

294 used the y in every elimination match of LA. It didn't work the first time because the elevator didn't drop enough to ditch a rather overinflated tube, which we adjusted for the next matches. After that, it worked 4/5 times, one miss because the tube was shoved in awkwardly. All three robots on our alliance had auto, and we did sometimes score all three tubes, as you can see in one of the semifinals 1 matches on YouTube.

Re: Successful "Y" in autonomous
 

Yeah, We ran autonomous successfully 100% of the time at Livonia and States qualifications. We ran the Y when we had 2 other teams that could get the ends. Always worked. We pick the branch of the Y that goes toward the robot that moves back the most. Then came quarter-finals. Was so sad when we collided on both branches! Thankfully RUSH was able to pull off a straight line middle so we ended up getting all 3. :) Hope we get in the same division! Anxious to see those!