Unique robot design?

[bEdhEd]

Originally Posted by IronicDeadBird

I find that instead of slave driving find out who drivers have a crush on and have them stand nearby during drive practice and giggle and whisper.

Stage fright on steroids?
Possible acclimation technique to simulate on-field nervousness.
Productivity level: productive.

[carpedav000]

I would say that our robot is rather unique in two ways:
1.) It has 2 completely different lifts. One is a chain and hook system for stacking crates, one is a 4-bar for stacking containers and grabbing them off of the step.

2.) Our robot has two 45-degree angles in the front of the frame. This feature makes the crates self-align no matter what angle we are collecting from.

[who716]

Originally Posted by mrnoble

It's possible that we are overly optimistic, but I assure you we wouldn't have troubled ourselves to incorporate it into our robot without the most realistic testing conditions we could make. On what is your pessimism based?

It's based on our teams testing of a very realistic field setup, we found it rather time consuming and power draining to move the totes by way of snowplow, we really had to run into them to make a slight movement, and if they were off center from one another it makes it that much more difficult then we tried over the top and can grab two containers in 2 seconds and by 4 seconds be in the auto zone with two of the gray tots from the landfill dragged behind.

Another issue is if you push the landfill to get the containr on the far left, you then have to to push the totes back were they were if you want to get the container on the far right
If you want to do coop and you have the landfill totes pushed to one side it going to be difficult to get a stack of four if the other alliance can't get to that center

[Thromgord]

The most unique aspect of the robot that we currently have are two long arms, mounted to the chassis with bolts but capable of some back-and-forth movement due to surgical tubing. Once a tote is far enough into the robot, the arms naturally move in a bit to straighten the tote.

These arms can be made out of nearly anything, they're incredibly easy to install, and they are quite good at corralling totes. Because of their height, they don't interfere with the cooperation platform. They might also help remove a tote or two from the landfill zone.

If teams currently have no intake mechanism and want to quickly make a good one, I would strongly recommend using ours. (Just send all of those letters of praise and adoration to Team 3807.)

Here's a video.

We're also considering some other unique things to do... for the most part, though, we just need to refine the mechanisms that we already have.

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by who716

It's based on our teams testing of a very realistic field setup, we found it rather time consuming and power draining to move the totes by way of snowplow, we really had to run into them to make a slight movement, and if they were off center from one another it makes it that much more difficult then we tried over the top and can grab two containers in 2 seconds and by 4 seconds be in the auto zone with two of the gray tots from the landfill dragged behind.

Another issue is if you push the landfill to get the containr on the far left, you then have to to push the totes back were they were if you want to get the container on the far right
If you want to do coop and you have the landfill totes pushed to one side it going to be difficult to get a stack of four if the other alliance can't get to that center

The strategy we are using isn't based around getting resources quickly. It is about doing it efficiently. 2 bins in 4 seconds is absolutely impressive and I look forward to seeing your robot perform. This year I tried to model game play strategy around a few games I found had similar constraints. What I ended up with in methodology isn't about doing things quickly its about spending time in ways where that get you the most out of the time.
My original plan was to tether to all the recycling bins on the field before auto and reeling them in. Then the GDC made the landfill a volume and only one container set scoreable rulewise. The other deal breaker on it was when I asked "what next?" On asking that question I found myself with a robot trapped in the auto zone by a bunch of recycling containers and taking up a significant chunk of space that could be detrimental to team scoring ability.
Securing resources is absolutely important in this years game.
But you still need to score those resources for it to matter.

[mrnoble]

Originally Posted by who716

It's based on our teams testing of a very realistic field setup, we found it rather time consuming and power draining to move the totes by way of snowplow, we really had to run into them to make a slight movement, and if they were off center from one another it makes it that much more difficult then we tried over the top and can grab two containers in 2 seconds and by 4 seconds be in the auto zone with two of the gray tots from the landfill dragged behind.

Another issue is if you push the landfill to get the containr on the far left, you then have to to push the totes back were they were if you want to get the container on the far right
If you want to do coop and you have the landfill totes pushed to one side it going to be difficult to get a stack of four if the other alliance can't get to that center

It reads to me that your team might have tried to move the totes from a different angle? I'd love to see a field drawing or strategy mat that showed how you were pushing. I don't get how moving the totes away from the step would lead to the scenario you describe.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by who716

I think you maybe in for a surprise in this one I don't think the landfill is movable, good luck though

While not my teams strategy, I can easily see a flywheel design breaking up the landfill an allowing easy access to the step RCs during auto.

[who716]

Originally Posted by IronicDeadBird

The strategy we are using isn't based around getting resources quickly. It is about doing it efficiently. 2 bins in 4 seconds is absolutely impressive and I look forward to seeing your robot perform. This year I tried to model game play strategy around a few games I found had similar constraints. What I ended up with in methodology isn't about doing things quickly its about spending time in ways where that get you the most out of the time.
My original plan was to tether to all the recycling bins on the field before auto and reeling them in. Then the GDC made the landfill a volume and only one container set scoreable rulewise. The other deal breaker on it was when I asked "what next?" On asking that question I found myself with a robot trapped in the auto zone by a bunch of recycling containers and taking up a significant chunk of space that could be detrimental to team scoring ability.
Securing resources is absolutely important in this years game.
But you still need to score those resources for it to matter.

We think grabbing the high scoring field elements as soon as possible is the way to go not only does that save you time to use those field elements but it also Limits the opposing alliance...... I'll attempt to take pictures of our design tomarrow and post it, we added a wheely bar today because with both RC's 5 feet off the robot, frame the robot got alittle tipsy before we were able to bring them into the frame. the design is pretty much set in stone we just need a simple support to prevent the RC from rolling on the hooks.

Originally Posted by mrnoble

It reads to me that your team might have tried to move the totes from a different angle? I'd love to see a field drawing or strategy mat that showed how you were pushing. I don't get how moving the totes away from the step would lead to the scenario you describe.

Are you considering driving into the gap in the center and driving along the step pushing the totes towards your auto zone?

[mrnoble]

Originally Posted by who716

Are you considering driving into the gap in the center and driving along the step pushing the totes towards your auto zone?

Yes... But that doesn't seem like what you were describing earlier.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by ArtemusMaximus

"Scorpion" you say. Sounds like design I had in mind, but have no team this year to implement any of my ideas
I suspect scorpion part is the one that loads noodles into the can?

Pictures & videos soon, but your guess could not be further from the truth.

I can't swear we'll finish this beast on time our under weight but I will guarantee that if we manage to do so without having to jettison any major functionality or subsystem, we will have to explain the name to exactly zero folks who see this robot playing the game.

With that, I need to get back to work. One day of work left and then it's 100 or so of robots robots robots til Bag Time.

Dr. Joe J.

[346CADmen]

Originally Posted by gpetilli

Our team had a similar concept but ultimately realized it would be illegal since at least the cables for the trolley would be in the AUTO and/or Landfill zones at the start of the match.

Thought the same. But as a problem solver, considered adding swerve drive to each column. then expanding into those zones when appropriate.

[who716]

Originally Posted by mrnoble

Yes... But that doesn't seem like what you were describing earlier.

i wasn't i was thinking of something different, but i still have concerns. What exactly does this achieve for the allotted time used, okay you clear a path to the containers, which may or may not be useful to some teams. in lets say 10-15 seconds, then you end up with totes scattered and no longer packed which make it harder for passive design hooks to grab at, plus less maneuverability, it just seems much more complex strategy for less of a rewards.

[who716]

and as promised here is some pictures of our container design pretty much done, auto still needs fine programming but tel-op works so i don't see why auto wouldn't .

description, we have two arms double jointed and when fully extended are approx. 5 feet. each arm spins separately in a 360 degree rotation. using encoders to signify where they are. the arms are attached to a lift. that allows us to place the container on top of a 4 stack, since they spin we can be stacking totes on one end of the robot then place the RC can on top just by spinning the arms around. once the RC are captured, we fold our arms up to center the weight , and the RC's are then directly over the frame. this design allows us to pick up a can from anywhere on the field and from any position, and we can stack two at the same time as well. all together 4 seconds to grab two rc can off the step and pull them into the auto zone.

after our first trial we had to add a wheelie bar as when we first captured both RC the front end came up to high to the point were we could not drive now we drive a wheelie all the way into the auto zone then fold up.

[who716]

one more.....

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Joe Johnson

Pictures & videos soon, but your guess could not be further from the truth.

I can't swear we'll finish this beast on time our under weight but I will guarantee that if we manage to do so without having to jettison any major functionality or subsystem, we will have to explain the name to exactly zero folks who see this robot playing the game.

With that, I need to get back to work. One day of work left and then it's 100 or so of robots robots robots til Bag Time.

[IMG]

Dr. Joe J.

*looks at name of poster*
*looks at image*
I wouldn't expect any less than what I think you're doing