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Originally Posted by gorrilla
so it just human-loads?
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For the dumper, yes.
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where do teh balls that you pick up go?
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Into the bottom of the robot, of course!
Over four seasons, 1618 has had four robots--the unnamed 2005 and 2006 robots, Uppercut (2007), and Speedy Debris (2008). Of them all, the most effective manipulator was 2005's--three screws to keep a tetra from sliding off the back of the rolling base as they drove to a goal and slammed on the brakes. Result? A tetra in the bottom of a goal. 2006's cannon had hopper issues, Uppercut's arm suffered from a lack of gripper (and excess of speed), and Speedy Debris plain ran out of time for getting a trackball launcher (though it did meet some success as a lapper in Chesapeake).
This season, barring some really odd strategy of play (see also: Tumbleweed), I was on some self-imposed pressure to make sure our manipulator actually worked. As the days went by with other issues, the whiteboard-sketched vision kept getting simplified and simplified to this--and it worked. All told, I think it could've been a contender with a little more practice and refinement. But that's what the off-season is for, yes?