Lessons learned from 2006 and 2001

[plaidwarrior]

The bridge from 2001 was VERY hard to balance. My team tried to make an automatic bridge balancing program but failed. At first glance you would think that all you need to do is to drive forward very slowly until it starts to rotate and then stop, but that doesn't work. The bridge had a huge amount of inertia, so once it started going, it just kept going all the way to the opposite position. I did see teams do it successfully in competition, so I know it was possible, but we never figured it out.

Now, having said that, this year's bridge might be easier or harder. We'll have to build one and see how it works. But even if it is relatively easy to balance with one robot on there, I'm guessing it will be difficult with two or three.