2014 Game

[wilhitern1]

I know thateveryone else3 is going to hate this,but I'd love to see a mini bot again...

Neal

[jman4747]

Originally Posted by wilhitern1

I know thateveryone else3 is going to hate this,but I'd love to see a mini bot again...

Neal

In a better iteration the concept can work I think. On top of that when I first started FIRST my training was to build a minibot witch was a pretty good intro to basic robotics for me.

[BBray_T1296]

How about this for hockey: All robots must use mecanum wheels (like the rules for lunacy) on carpet, and the drive motors MUST be set to coast instead of brake (also no other braking mechanisms)

[Whippet]

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

How about this for hockey: All robots must use mecanum wheels (like the rules for lunacy) on carpet, and the drive motors MUST be set to coast instead of brake (also no other braking mechanisms)

Oh my goodness, no. The team I was on in 2012 didn't have a competitive robot that year specifically because they couldn't get the mecanum wheels to work correctly. Mecanums should only be used by those teams who are experienced enough in frame building and programming to make them work correctly.

[Invictus3593]

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

How about this for hockey: All robots must use mecanum wheels (like the rules for lunacy) on carpet, and the drive motors MUST be set to coast instead of brake (also no other braking mechanisms)

Mecanum wheels are 1) hard to use correctly and 2) very expensive. Not every team has the budget to buy an up-to-$500 set of wheels.

[Calvin Hartley]

Originally Posted by Invictus3593

Mecanum wheels are 1) hard to use correctly and 2) very expensive. Not every team has the budget to buy an up-to-$500 set of wheels.

Remember, Vex's wheels are a bit less expensive: http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexpro/wh...um-wheels.html

$40 for a 6" wheel and $60 for an 8". We used the 6" ones this year and were very satisfied, though our rollers started to break post-season. I'm not sure if this was due to normal wear-and-tear or if they were driven on a poor surface.

[xXTHEGUARDIANxX]

i didn't know mecs required extra programming i thought you just slapped them on like normal wheels what specifically do you have to do to your robot to use them?

btw we are slightly off topic but topic is still interesting

[Calvin Hartley]

Originally Posted by xXTHEGUARDIANxX

i didn't know mecs required extra programming i thought you just slapped them on like normal wheels what specifically do you have to do to your robot to use them?

btw we are slightly off topic but topic is still interesting

I am no programming guru - in fact I am no programmer at all. However, I do know that strafing involves turning the wheels towards each other. When looking down on the wheels from the top, the rollers should form a sort of "X-pattern." Keep this in mind and try to imagine what happens when you turn the wheels different ways. I know this isn't much, but it helps me understand how they work.

Doing some sleuthing with the search here on CD will probably yield far better information than I can offer.

[Christopher149]

With mecanum, if you have a 3-axis joy stick, there's like a whole ~16 lines of code to write.

Something like (in pseudocode):

Spoiler for Spoliered the code in case you want to learn it, and not be told the answers:

motor arrangement:
A------D
|      |
|      |
|      |
B------C

Joystick axes
  Y
  |
  +--X
 /
T

double y = joy.y;
double x = joy.x;
double t = joy.t;

double a = x + y + t;
double b = -x + y + t;
double c = -x + -y + t;
double d = x + -y + t;

double factor = max(a,b,c,d);

if (factor > 1){
  a /= factor;
  b /= factor;
  c /= factor;
  d /= factor;
}

motorA.set(a);
motorB.set(c);
motorC.set(b);
motorD.set(d);

Note: I make no warranty that this is entirely correct, or that the signs are actually correct. It's more the pattern of the signs that matters. This is what 857 has used last two times we've done mecanum.

[Shifter]

My guess at the 2014 game:

clue1: Frank's September 27 blog refers to the "Morris dance". This obscure traditional dance is referenced in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

clue2: picture included in Frank's blog of September 27, on the leftmost of three display screens and partially obstructed by Frank's arm may be this year's field set-up. Later referred to in Frank's December 10 blog "we had a chance to take a look at a fully assembled 2014 season field in person rather than on a display screen or on paper"

clue3: "Tom Baker makes an appearance as the museum curator" in Frank's November 26 blog is a reference to TIME-travelling Doctor Who.

game name: "TIME CRUNCH" or, more likely "CRUNCH TIME". TIME comes from clue3, CRUNCH comes from the end game.

playing field: from clue2, eight (or more) 3-sided cubicles line the side walls of the field. In the middle of the field at each end are four robot-width ramps arranged in a spoke pattern reaching heights at the hub of 20", 40", and 60"
autonomous: each of the eight robots (four robots per alliance in qualification rounds) starts the match in a cubicle. To earn points during the autonomous period robots must vacate their starting cubicle and move across the field (Morris dance) to enter a cubicle on the opposite side and activate a pivoting hourglass. If at least one robot executes this task in the first 5 seconds then an additional 5 seconds of autonomous is allowed for both alliances. This repeats for a maximum of 20 seconds of autonomous.
tele-op: robots dart from one side of the field to the other trying to "cap" as many cubicles as possible by pivoting the hourglass to their alliance color
end game: allied robots drive up the ramps and stack themselves one on top of another (ie. the big CRUNCH), the higher the stack the more end game points. Idea comes from clue1 where the fictional flat Discworld is said to rest atop elephants atop turtles.

[jlmcmchl]

Originally Posted by Shifter

My guess at the 2014 game:

clue1: Frank's September 27 blog refers to the "Morris dance". This obscure traditional dance is referenced in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

clue2: picture included in Frank's blog of September 27, on the leftmost of three display screens and partially obstructed by Frank's arm may be this year's field set-up. Later referred to in Frank's December 10 blog "we had a chance to take a look at a fully assembled 2014 season field in person rather than on a display screen or on paper"

clue3: "Tom Baker makes an appearance as the museum curator" in Frank's November 26 blog is a reference to TIME-travelling Doctor Who.

game name: "TIME CRUNCH" or, more likely "CRUNCH TIME". TIME comes from clue3, CRUNCH comes from the end game.

playing field: from clue2, eight (or more) 3-sided cubicles line the side walls of the field. In the middle of the field at each end are four robot-width ramps arranged in a spoke pattern reaching heights at the hub of 20", 40", and 60"
autonomous: each of the eight robots (four robots per alliance in qualification rounds) starts the match in a cubicle. To earn points during the autonomous period robots must vacate their starting cubicle and move across the field (Morris dance) to enter a cubicle on the opposite side and activate a pivoting hourglass. If at least one robot executes this task in the first 5 seconds then an additional 5 seconds of autonomous is allowed for both alliances. This repeats for a maximum of 20 seconds of autonomous.
tele-op: robots dart from one side of the field to the other trying to "cap" as many cubicles as possible by pivoting the hourglass to their alliance color
end game: allied robots drive up the ramps and stack themselves one on top of another (ie. the big CRUNCH), the higher the stack the more end game points. Idea comes from clue1 where the fictional flat Discworld is said to rest atop elephants atop turtles.

I like this concept, except with yesterday's blog, there has to be something impressive on the field, without robots.

[xXTHEGUARDIANxX]

Originally Posted by Shifter

My guess at the 2014 game:

clue1: Frank's September 27 blog refers to the "Morris dance". This obscure traditional dance is referenced in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

clue2: picture included in Frank's blog of September 27, on the leftmost of three display screens and partially obstructed by Frank's arm may be this year's field set-up. Later referred to in Frank's December 10 blog "we had a chance to take a look at a fully assembled 2014 season field in person rather than on a display screen or on paper"

clue3: "Tom Baker makes an appearance as the museum curator" in Frank's November 26 blog is a reference to TIME-travelling Doctor Who.

game name: "TIME CRUNCH" or, more likely "CRUNCH TIME". TIME comes from clue3, CRUNCH comes from the end game.

playing field: from clue2, eight (or more) 3-sided cubicles line the side walls of the field. In the middle of the field at each end are four robot-width ramps arranged in a spoke pattern reaching heights at the hub of 20", 40", and 60"
autonomous: each of the eight robots (four robots per alliance in qualification rounds) starts the match in a cubicle. To earn points during the autonomous period robots must vacate their starting cubicle and move across the field (Morris dance) to enter a cubicle on the opposite side and activate a pivoting hourglass. If at least one robot executes this task in the first 5 seconds then an additional 5 seconds of autonomous is allowed for both alliances. This repeats for a maximum of 20 seconds of autonomous.
tele-op: robots dart from one side of the field to the other trying to "cap" as many cubicles as possible by pivoting the hourglass to their alliance color
end game: allied robots drive up the ramps and stack themselves one on top of another (ie. the big CRUNCH), the higher the stack the more end game points. Idea comes from clue1 where the fictional flat Discworld is said to rest atop elephants atop turtles.

this idea sounds valid but its sounds very difficult and is confusing for my self to interpret (still trying to interpret it) you seem to have strong evidence

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by xXTHEGUARDIANxX

this idea sounds valid but its sounds very difficult and is confusing for my self to interpret (still trying to interpret it) you seem to have strong evidence

You and I apparently have very different definitions of "strong evidence."

[rsegrest]

Originally Posted by jlmcmchl

I like this concept, except with yesterday's blog, there has to be something impressive on the field, without robots.

Impressive item on the field...

Originally Posted by Shifter

Idea comes from clue1 where the fictional flat Discworld is said to rest atop elephants atop turtles.

isn't that impressive enough? I mean who else can say they stacked their robots on top of their alliance partners who are on top of an elephant on a turtle?

Seriously though...this one broke my brain...

[Kevin Thorp]

On the right side of that Sept. 27 blog photo is the old style FIRST logo. That hasn't been used since "FIRST Frenzy" in 2004.