Hey Werner NYK!
Some might call the RedJammers smoke screen a "design flaw" (I'll let you say it this time
)
Others might call it the weak link in the chain.
Actually what's occurring is that we are (as is everyone else) pushing the design limits of everything on the machine.
Needless to say we are already working on what changes we need to make once we arrive in Florida at the Nat's
You guys are fortunate to have Chris, he is an excellent engineer and mentor!
As far as the tug of war....we remember it too! Remember which 'bot ended up with the goal in the end? hint: I think it had a 311 on the side
Like I said before I think you guys are going to do well in the future. We will let you guys know when team 311 has workshops during the 'off season' this way we can all work together and learn together too!
Oh, and you can use our bandsaw anytime.......
One more thing just to clarify. We actually only have one mechanical engineer working on the robot that is associated with a sponsor. The rest of us are either parents or former students with engineering backgrounds who volunteer their time because we believe strongly in the program. We also insist that the students do at least 80% of the work. As an example, every inch of the welding on this years chassis was done by a group of 3 students.
In my case my son graduated last year and now he competes with team 190 from WPI and Mass Academy. Boy I really hope we end up in the same division at the Nationals and draw each other as alliance partners in at least one qualifying match.
Now THAT would be cool!