Let's Talk About The Bridge:

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

That's what we were thinking too but everyone on your alliance needs to think that way in order to get that bonus!

In the eliminations how does the coopertition bridge play out? I can't find that anywhere.

Coopertition does not play any role in the elims which is why 3 robots on a teeter-totter is worth 40 points only in the elims.

[Ernst]

Last year our robot had a "finesse" mode, that literally slowed down the arm motors and the drive motors. I think a similar mode (that can simply be activated by a button on the joysticks or a toggle switch) could be highly beneficial when trying to just drive your robot to balance.

If your robot this year ends up with any kind of swinging chute or arm, then you could probably use that to effectively shift the center of gravity.

ALSO:

Originally Posted by BrendanB

That's what we were thinking too but everyone on your alliance needs to think that way in order to get that bonus!

In the eliminations how does the coopertition bridge play out? I can't find that anywhere.

My understanding is that the Coopertition bridge gives you only qualifying points, and is therefore not necessary in the elimination rounds.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

Coopertition does not play any role in the elims which is why 3 robots on a teeter-totter is worth 40 points only in the elims.

Originally Posted by ZehP

My understanding is that the Coopertition bridge gives you only qualifying points, and is therefore not necessary in the elimination rounds.

Thanks my assumption was that it became null and void for elims.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by ZehP

Last year our robot had a "finesse" mode, that literally slowed down the arm motors and the drive motors. I think a similar mode (that can simply be activated by a button on the joysticks or a toggle switch) could be highly beneficial when trying to just drive your robot to balance.

If your robot this year ends up with any kind of swinging chute or arm, then you could probably use that to effectively shift the center of gravity.

Personally, I want to take all the human aspects out of the balancing. The operators are facing them head on, not to the side of the board. So my plan is to get all the alliance members up and tell them to drop all controls so the software can do its work.

[KrazyCarl92]

What about placing an accelerometer on the robot that allows it to autonomously balance on the bridge? You could have it detect when you are unbalanced on the bridge then press a button that activates the auto-balance and drives to correct the imbalance. Just tell whomever you are balancing with that you have this auto-balancing feature and you have yourself 20 points or 10 points and a 2 point CP bonus as the case may be!

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Personally, I want to take all the human aspects out of the balancing. The operators are facing them head on, not to the side of the board. So my plan is to get all the alliance members up and tell them to drop all controls so the software can do its work.

Three robots operating on software to balance on a ramp in which they barely fit? Could work but you need all three to do that which will be extremely rare! It is almost like having a robot in 2010 that could hang off the tower and have two to hang off of it for bonus points. It only happened once all season and with two robots not all three.

[Ninja_Bait]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

The only way you are fitting three is with 3 robots that are at least 28 inches wide and you'll have 11 inches of overhang at best.

Dear Everyone:

Please build a little robot like Team Thrust's in 2010, so we will all fit on our ramp during the match.

Thanks
694

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by KrazyCarl92

What about placing an accelerometer on the robot that allows it to autonomously balance on the bridge? You could have it detect when you are unbalanced on the bridge then press a button that activates the auto-balance and drives to correct the imbalance. Just tell whomever you are balancing with that you have this auto-balancing feature and you have yourself 20 points or 10 points and a 2 point CP bonus as the case may be!

I was just thinking of going for 2 PID loops. One to actuate the platform to the right position and the second to find where to move the platform to. Personally, a gyroscope would be better. Since it gives us the angular velocity, I just integrate that over time and you get the net angle of the gyro.



edit: any legality on "latching" onto other robots? The "t-rex" arms to push the platform down can be used to latch onto robots.

[Ninja_Bait]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

edit: any legality on "latching" onto other robots? The "t-rex" arms to push the platform down can be used to latch onto robots.

Interesting question. G27 prevents you from doing it on the coopertition bridge:

Deliberate or damaging contact with an opponent Robot inside its Frame Perimeter is not allowed.

But not with your own alliance partners. Hmmm....

[Kevin Selavko]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

I am wondering how robots are going to make the bridge go down form the neutral position. That may be hard. Is it just gonna be you run into it and it will move? or will we have to make a mechanism to lower it for us? Any thoughts?

At our local kickoff we had a prebuilt one to play with, if there is no weight on it to make it offbalance it will automaticly rebalance itself. This means that you will probibly have to buld somthing to keep it down as your robot is getting on. They are also fairly high off the ground, so you cant just run into it unless you are trying to push it down for an aliance member on the other side.

[pfreivald]

I'm thinking "robot one moves onto the ramp, robot two moves onto the edge. Robot one stops moving, robot two balances with accelerometer or gyro assist."

If three robots, it becomes, "robot one moves onto the ramp, robot two moves onto the edge. Robots one and two creep forward until robot three can move onto the AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! THIS IS SO HARD!"

Should be awesome!

[davidthefat]

How much force is required to bring the ramp down?

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

How much force is required to bring the ramp down?

None of us could tell. Can't bring it down with your finger but put your foot on it and with a little pressure it came down. No exact measurements.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

None of us could tell. Can't bring it down with your finger but put your foot on it and with a little pressure it came down. No exact measurements.

So I'll have to keep torque in mind. Really heavy weight is needed to tilt it from the middle area of the bridge.

[nighterfighter]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

None of us could tell. Can't bring it down with your finger but put your foot on it and with a little pressure it came down. No exact measurements.

On the video on Youtube they stated that if you place 2 batteries next to each other, 28 inches out, the bridge should stay level. Move it an additional 2 inches I believe, and it would tilt.

Use physics, convert and stuff, and there's your answer!