What will your robot actually do?

[MrJohnston]

So... There's been lots of talk about the "ideal" stacking abilities of a robot. But, what does it look like robots will actually be able to do?

We are designing ours to stack five toes with a bin on top... It's possible we'll do a sixth tote, but.....

[ice.berg]

I don't see the "Makes pancakes" option?

[asid61]

I have no clue, but with our design we can go as high as we want with a bin on top- and fast.
So I guess 6 totes and a bin, but I am worried about the stability of the stack.

[g_sawchuk]

Ideally 6 totes and a bin. I have my doubts though....

[SciBorg Dave]

Originally Posted by asid61

I have no clue, but with our design we can go as high as we want with a bin on top- and fast.
So I guess 6 totes and a bin, but I am worried about the stability of the stack.

From testing 6 totes with a can is very stable.

[Joe G.]

Is there an "Other" option?

[Tem1514 Mentor]

Originally Posted by ice.berg

I don't see the "Makes pancakes" option?

No-no-no, not pancakes but instead CORN DOG's with a side of Pineapple pizza. Frank would be so happy

[MrJohnston]

Originally Posted by ice.berg

I don't see the "Makes pancakes" option?

I just assumed that everybody's robot would make pancakes.... On our team we figure we can increase our productivity by completely eliminating the need for meal breaks.

[Trey178]

Our plan is to acquire and stack totes from the landfill zone. Plus, we want to grab one or more of the bins(containers) from the step. The intention is to prevent the opposing alliance from obtaining them instead, thereby potentially lowering their average score. But we won't know exactly what we are able to do until we have a full working robot.

[V_Chip]

It shall move.

If everything goes according to plan...

[IronicDeadBird]

Kinda surprised at the poll results. I figured we would be looking at primarily the 3-5 stack range, but what this does point out (either due to it not being included or people not actually going for it) is that looks like some teams might need a robot with the ability to orient bins and capitalize on bins with noodles...

[MrForbes]

What's a bin?

We have been kind of ignoring the tipped CONTAINER issue, but we did find a problem Saturday (and a solution) which might result in our also being able to right tipped CONTAINERS pretty easily.

I'm surprised (and not surprised) at the "we're going for six!" thing...it'll be interesting to see what the poll results would be if we asked again during week 6.

[MrJohnston]

I suspect that the poll results would be very different five weeks from now... At the same time, I do think that stacking six totes with a recycling container on top will not be particularly difficult with a number of different robot designs. The question, however, will be how quickly they can do it... We are designing our robot specifically to stack five totes with a recycling container on top. However, if balance were not an issue at all, we'd just as easily be able to add a sixth tote.

Once we are stacking five, we'll start experimenting and seeing what more it would take to do six. The key, however, will be speed. With all totes and containers placed perfectly, making four full stacks should be possible -and even starting the fifth. However, that won't likely happen: There are only three recycling bins guaranteed to our alliance. Getting more would mean that they are not so perfectly placed.

I figure I'll put out another poll in about four weeks about how quickly folks are stacking...

[RonnieS]

Originally Posted by MrJohnston

I suspect that the poll results would be very different five weeks from now... At the same time, I do think that stacking six totes with a recycling container on top will not be particularly difficult with a number of different robot designs. The question, however, will be how quickly they can do it... We are designing our robot specifically to stack five totes with a recycling container on top. However, if balance were not an issue at all, we'd just as easily be able to add a sixth tote.

Once we are stacking five, we'll start experimenting and seeing what more it would take to do six. The key, however, will be speed. With all totes and containers placed perfectly, making four full stacks should be possible -and even starting the fifth. However, that won't likely happen: There are only three recycling bins guaranteed to our alliance. Getting more would mean that they are not so perfectly placed.

I figure I'll put out another poll in about four weeks about how quickly folks are stacking...

There were a fair number of robots that could score last year, yet teams still found it difficult. The hard part will be implementation/system integration, I think that is where a ton of teams are going to have trouble.