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Unread 13-06-2016, 09:33
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FRC #0228 (GUS Robotics); FRC #2170 (Titanium Tomahawks)
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Re: Lets do it again...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Petrovic View Post
You know, I thought this was a universal truth about FRC, as well. We call it "positive control".

Then 195 puts out a robot that drops balls from their intake onto their catapult and dominates the New England District.

I don't know what to believe anymore.
There's lots of exceptions to this rule, and it's worth studying when they matter. The key is to realize that this rule is most applicable when you are holding multiple, compliant game pieces, or game pieces that need to be in a specific orientation to be scored.

2013 - Almost every competitive Frisbee hopper in the world was a gravity fed bucket. Why did this work? The bucket controlled the orientation of the Frisbees, the bucket dimensions prevented Frisbees from sliding into or past each other, and the rigid nature of the Frisbees prevented them from sticking or jamming.

2015 - No defense and nesting features of the game pieces made active control of everything not a huge deal.

2016 - One game piece, relatively short distance from intake to shooting position, protected zone for ball to gravity drop in without defense disturbing the ball, ball can be fired from any arbitrary orientation.

Knowing when breaking a "hard rule" can drastically simplify a design is a key skill in FIRST. I think many FIRST robot designers have been unwilling to let go of a cardinal rule to the detriment of their robot at least once before. Or sometimes, many many times...
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