Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

Get in touch with me - it's pretty simple to make an XML file that iTunes will accept.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

Great job guys. I really like the diversity you guys have. It helps to cover as many teams as possible with good information around the nation. Keep it up and I hope you guys do more. It was great to hear everyone's thoughts about the different teams and divisions. (and the field layout this year. lol)

And thanks to James for representing Texas!! :)

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

We lacked some information from the west coast because RC (1323) is a lazy bum and never logs on.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

I have to say, I'm impressed with the depth of the field that you're talking about in this podcast. You offer insightful comments that scouters and drive teams can use at the Championship, and it'll be interesting to see what predictions come true this weekend. I think the level of knowledge that you bring to the table is significant, and I look forward to seeing what discussions you have next.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

You can now follow us on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/RoBro...319846?sk=wall

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

Hey guys, since I'll be somewhat team-less at the Championship, I'm hoping to keep all of those who are unable to go informed about what's going on. I'll be uploading videos throughout the day on the RoBroChat facebook page - if anyone's got any specific requests for a certain robot or match, feel free to comment on the page and I'll try my best to get it.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

Id like to request 1114, 111, 525, 217, 1625, and 2056 to name a couple.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

Robrocast? Someone deserves a reward for this name.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

I am kind of curious about the concern teams have with amount of time allotted for calibrating on the fields.

While it is never explicitly stated what teams will be allowed to do I don't think expecting to run autonomous as you guys discussed is realistic. Bill's post allots time for teams to "Calibrate their sensors"; calibrating sensors would not include adjusting distances for dead reckoning. Calibrating sensors seems to suggest that teams that need to adjust settings or thresholds for line following or vision would be able to adjust them a competition equivalent lighting environment. I see the need for teams using vision and FIRST implemented a similar system in at least 2006 and 2007 and it worked fine. I don't see the need for line following robots as the color differences are obvious enough that loose thresholds should account for lighting variations, I guess teams may use the sensors in a way I wouldn't expect but my assumption is that it would be the exception, not the rule.

While there are 160 teams that could potentially need to calibrate on each pair of fields I would venture a guess that less than 10% of them have sensors that actually need to be calibrated.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

James I would agree to a certain extent about the calibration of sensors, but still, 45 minutes doesn't seem like very much time for teams to calibrate their sensors for both fields. That might just be our thinking though. Hope you liked the discussion.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

I know many teams who have had issues with light sensors this year and the calibration values needed to get them to run properly event to event.

Also, calibrating distance values isn't necessarily for dead reckoning teams. Most teams use some sort of encoder in their drive system that allows them to drive a given distance. For placing these tubes and lining up, a couple inches can make a huge difference (compounded when you try to score 2, or even 3 ubertubes ;) ). Field to field variations have tripped up our autonomous and I know this is the case for other teams as well.

Flat out running autonomous modes would be impossible. However, I include in my definition of calibrating sensors, drive encoders and the like. That would entail measuring field dimensions etc., which is STRICTLY disallowed at every competition I have been to. I'd be interested to see if they allow teams to measure the fields during this calibration period.

-Brando

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

Just wanted to clear something up about the name RoBroCast, a few people commented on it in messages to us.

The name isn't supposed to imply that no women will be involved with the discussions, it was really just a name we tossed up because its a fun name and because we're college kids with fratty discussions sometimes :p

If you would like to participate in future discussions or have suggestions for future topics, drop us a message on the facebook page. A couple people already have.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!...10990662319846

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

I just wanted to touch on this, we are working on making it more open to other people. For our next RoBroCast we brought in Richard Sisk to help fill the lack of knowledge from the west coast as well as bring the perspective of an inspector. We are doing our best to provide original content of as high quality as we can do. If there is interest in participating let us know and what you feel you would contribute (via the FB page is probably the best way) and we'll see what we can do to accommodate that.

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

I approve!

Re: EWCP RoBroChat Pre-Championship Podcast
 

Thanks for that, it was way cool to be invited to be a part of the fun. Hanging out with the WiredCats, Dustin, Andrew, and Nick last night to record the podcast was a blast and I'm looking forward to doing it again. The topics were interesting and the discussion was lively.

Be sure to give last nights episode a listen and stay tuned for more.