2012 Palmetto Regional

[bassoondude]

Hey guys,
Team 1293 is looking forward to an awesome 2012 Palmetto Regional. Last year, a few members tried to start a new tradition of dressing up for the team social on Friday. D5 will be continuing with this this year, and would like to invite all the other teams at Palmetto to do the same. Most of the team will be dressed somewhere between business casual and informal (e.g. dress shirt and slacks to coat and tie, and whatever that means for females). While this is in no way required, we would love to see this happen. Good luck this weekend and don't forget, HAVE FUN!

[Billfred]

Some notions and observations after attending Peachtree:

-1319 came into Peachtree hungry after getting silver at Smoky Mountain. After a second silver? They're going to be starving. I expect them to be even more refined this week.
-343 is not the flashiest shooter out there, but their bridge skills are going to make them pretty potent on the field. If they can find some dancing partners in qualification rounds, expect them to seed well.
-3976 had a rough ride in Georgia, starting with weight and ending with an ineffective shooter that ended the tournament sitting in a corner of their pit. During eliminations, I was frequently in the pit of their neighbor 1771...and they were there the whole time working on improving it for Palmetto. In a smaller field, with a regional's worth of drive time, I could see them in a widget role this week.

As for us, we were running miles better by the end of Peachtree compared to the start. We have a second motor coming from AndyMark to let us speed up our shooter in the hopes of hitting threes reliably (we were stretching for a couple of close ones on the practice field). We added an encoder to that gearbox late Friday in Georgia, which helped our consistency somewhat on Saturday. Our bridge pusher was a non-starter for qualifications, knowing from ChiefDelphi that the forces required for a wheel-on-a-stick device greatly exceeded what a window motor was going to do. At the request of our partners, we slapped together a crude one during lunch on Saturday in the hopes of getting to the far side of the field. Didn't quite pan out there, but bet on us improving it Thursday.

We look forward to making the trip!

[robochick1319]

Flash 1319 is really looking forward to another great Palmetto Regional! Peachtree was awesome and I'm sure Palmetto will be just as competitive and exciting.

Let's all have a fun and safe time!

[JohnFogarty]

@Billfred The planetary Gearboxes for the small motors can handle the stress using less than 25% power. I.E. we use one for our "sticks with wheels."

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by John_1102

@Billfred The planetary Gearboxes for the small motors can handle the stress using less than 25% power. I.E. we use one for our "sticks with wheels."

We may look at that--we're currently looking at a wedge-style deployer in the vein of 1319, 343, or perhaps 1771.

[JohnFogarty]

I'm a fan of that method as well, that's how our 3 FTC teams lowered the bridge in the 2011 game. The only difference was that since in FRC you have bumpers the mechanism couldn't be passive like our FTC ones were it would have to powered I.e 343's method.

Though we haven't run into a problem with our current design yet, and we like to also have the ability to hold the bridge up for making it easier for the other 2 robots to get on.

[Josh Drake]

Originally Posted by John_1102

...we like to also have the ability to hold the bridge up for making it easier for the other 2 robots to get on.

I too like that plan

[E-Stop]

Woot for the accidental design to be able to do both. Ours lifts up and down and can sweep balls out from under the bridge which is awesome since there is now a new back up camera to see if any balls are there

[TShsg]

Originally Posted by bassoondude

Hey guys,
Team 1293 is looking forward to an awesome 2012 Palmetto Regional. Last year, a few members tried to start a new tradition of dressing up for the team social on Friday. D5 will be continuing with this this year, and would like to invite all the other teams at Palmetto to do the same. Most of the team will be dressed somewhere between business casual and informal (e.g. dress shirt and slacks to coat and tie, and whatever that means for females). While this is in no way required, we would love to see this happen. Good luck this weekend and don't forget, HAVE FUN!

FIRST Team SPORK is looking forward to Palmetto again this year! It attracts a really nice group of teams. We would welcome anyone to stop by our pit with questions, especially the rookies! Regarding the team social, doesn't the planners' timing have us all going directly from the Friday award ceremony to the Citadel, essentially having us all remain in team uniforms?

[Kevin Thorp]

Anybody have a webcast link?

[robochick1319]

Originally Posted by Kevin342

Anybody have a webcast link?

The FIRST website has the link posted on their site. http://ece.citadel.edu/robotics/

Hopefully that works!

[PayneTrain]

A lot of teams in Palmetto will be reappearing in Raleigh Week 6, so we'll be watching. Good luck to all teams!

[Akash Rastogi]

Hey everyone attending Palmetto, I've got a special request from Team 11 that they really want a few teams down there to lend a hand with.

11 is currently in need of the following items, and since they pretty much leave later tonight or tomorrow for the event, if teams traveling down have these items, please contact 11 or just post up in this thread and I will relay back to them.

*15T pinion for RS775
*P60 gearbox: Stock, Standard Shaft, RS-775 Mount, 16:1

Thanks in advance!
-Akash & Team 11

Update: 11 is good on parts. Nevermind folks!

[bassoondude]

Originally Posted by TShsg

FIRST Team SPORK is looking forward to Palmetto again this year! It attracts a really nice group of teams. We would welcome anyone to stop by our pit with questions, especially the rookies! Regarding the team social, doesn't the planners' timing have us all going directly from the Friday award ceremony to the Citadel, essentially having us all remain in team uniforms?

We had time to go back to the hotel for a few minutes last year, I guess it would depend on where you are staying and how long you anticipate it to take to get to The Citadel.

[davidjgz]

Palmetto was so much fun last year and I can't wait to compete again this year!

Also robots are awesome but I think this is the coolest thing we are bringing to palmetto.