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Form follows function or vice versa?
Here goes...
We figured we had 3 choices:
1. Goal handler
2. Ball handler
3. Hybrid
Now, I have to stress that we really wanted to have fun this year and make an impression. We built a 'bot for 01 that could do just about everything satisfactorily. It preformed well and held it's own, but it didn't have any flare. It was just like every other 'bot out there with a triangle shape and a gangly looking arm for balls. It was a fine 'bot, but it wasn't much fun to watch or drive.
So, we looked at this game, looked at last years, and decided to do it differently. We decided we wanted to make the best ball vacuum in the game - bar none and look good at the same time. I think we did. As far as I know, it's still has the fastest 20 ball pick up time in the game. If it doesn’t, then I’d like to see the 'bot that does!
But, if you put all that weight, design, testing, space etc. into everything needed to pick up 20 balls and put them in a goal in under 15 seconds, you give up capability like strong goal handling or a send home device. We decided that we would just play our strengths and let our allies cover our weaknesses (our lack of strong goal control). For the most part, it worked. Was it perfect? Of course not. We broke down, our allies broke down, the other alliance stole our goals, messed up the ball line or any number of things that could have and sometimes did go wrong for us. We knew from the start that using such a specialized design would limit us to what we could do if something unexpected happend. Of course, the unexpected happens and when it did it sometimes hurt us. Back in early January, the trade offs and risks seemed worthwhile. I think it still was the right choice for our team.
In short:
Why did we make the ‘bot the way we did? Because it was
A. Fun
B. Competitive
C. Lot’s of fun.
D. Whose going to forget the grasshopper gobbling up all the soccer balls?
-Andy A.
Edit: forgot to add what I would have changed! Well, I would have liked to see the atwoods still on the drive train, I think the extra pushing power would have helped us out. Also, we had a pair of air horns on the 'bot, fed off the compressor and triggerd on a solenoid. Some big goal bot blocking our way? Just beep the horns at him and he'll move! I just about died when I heard they where scrapped because of weight. If you've seen 95 run a line of balls, imagine that but with the 'bot screaming like a banshee the whole way. Then you'll know why I wanted them so bad.
Last edited by Andy A. : 15-04-2002 at 00:58.
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