Problems with autoloader

[[527]phil]

We'll first off we didn't get any penalties while using the autoloader. But during our second to last match one of the FIRST volunteers decided not to restock the autoloader because he was staring into space. This not only cost us time, but the match. Has anyone else had problems like this?

[nightrenegade00]

I can't say we have had any problems like that since we decided to scrap our auto loading idea after the second practice round at the UTC scrimmage. We've been using the human player zone all the time and haven't gotten any penalties. The human players make sure they get any bugs out during the practice rounds to be perfect during qualifiers and finals. You will probably find some people who will have this problem. The volunteers are people and people make mistakes. However they are a factor in whether an alliance wins or loses a match. The volunteers and refs need to remember that although its supposed to be fun, its still a competition.

-Crash

[shamuwong]

I've experienced a few incidents where we would go to the autoloader, and the field reset staff would place the tetra on the loader wrong and it would fall off, usually onto the loading area triangle. This would effectively disable that loading zone unless I pulled some fancy maneuvering that would have wasted even more time.

[Justin]

As someone who worked the Autoloader station at the UTC regional in CT I can say that this concern weighed heavily on my mind. While I wouldn't say the pressure was enormous I was aware that I was an active participant in the match and could if I spaced affect the match. I tried to take this very seriously and I think I was slow on the station maybe twice the whole regional. The last thing I wanted was to effect the outcome of some teams match adversely. I think that it depends a lot on the history of the person who runs this station as to how seriously they take it. I know that I worked with people who had been on teams and who were just there volunteering. My sense is that those who had been on teams in the past and were really serious about FIRST were aware of this responsibility to a greater extent than those who had not been. I can say that it was a lot of fun and is one of the best seats at any venue. You are as close to the action as you could possibly be. For someone who's been around for a while with was a unique privilege for me.

Justin

[danield710]

that happened to us once during practice matches, where my borhter (abed), a former member of our team was a volunteer who did the autoload station and he forgot the load the station because he was lookin at our robot on the other side of the field, and the drivers were screaming at him for like 10 seconds

[abeD]

That wasn't me!! It was the guy next to me....but in any case there was a case where someone did forget to load a station during a qual match and they were approached and asked if they wanted a rematch. (They declined)

[Ryan Dognaux]

The only problems I have seen with the autoloaders are when they get pulled over by the robots using them. This happened at Purdue and I think that loader was gone for the match.

[colt527]

Originally Posted by [527]phil

But during our second to last match one of the FIRST volunteers decided not to restock the autoloader because he was staring into space. This not only cost us time, but the match. Has anyone else had problems like this?

Well, I was frustrated at the time of the incident and I would have been more if it costed us the finals, but the volunteers are just people and they make mistakes. Plus, you have to realize, without them, we would not have a FIRST, so we should all thank them.

[Goobergunch]

We only used the auto-loader to pick up tetras, and I don't recall experiencing any problems in tetra availability. The Chesapeake volunteers did a nice job of keeping them loaded; I saw them put a new tetra on almost immediately after our robot grabbed one off.

[Marc P.]

I worked the blue autoloader at UTC with Justin, and same as him, I kept my conscious thought on the station itself, as long as there was a robot on the blue side of the field. It's true that it is the best seat in the house as far as viewing the action goes. There were times where I'd have to jump back for fear of getting impaled or smacked in the head by a robot arm. But, it is easy to loose track of where you are, especially if you don't get as much sleep as usual. Standing that close to the action, it's very easy to just stare at the robots and watch the magic.

There were times when I had to wait a few seconds before putting a new tetra on the loader, because the robots didn't back away. It's important to keep in mind field attendants can't reload the tetras until the robot has backed and cleared away from the loading zone. This is for the safety of the attendant, and to prevent the attendants from helping the robots by effectively dropping the tetra into the robot's arms. All in all though, it was a great experience, and I'll be doing it again at the NYC regional next week.

[sanddrag]

If this happened to me while I was driving I would (make the robot) charge the side of the field to get their attention back where it should be.

[tkwetzel]

Originally Posted by Marc P.

There were times when I had to wait a few seconds before putting a new tetra on the loader, because the robots didn't back away. It's important to keep in mind field attendants can't reload the tetras until the robot has backed and cleared away from the loading zone. This is for the safety of the attendant, and to prevent the attendants from helping the robots by effectively dropping the tetra into the robot's arms. All in all though, it was a great experience, and I'll be doing it again at the NYC regional next week.

I also did this at the UTC regional and found a similar experience. One time during a qualification match a team picked up a tetra and backed up, but their zip tie fingers used to make sure they were touching the loading zone were still touching the loading zone. After a couple of seconds I glanced over at the driver station and the drivers of that robot made some gestures kind of wondering why I was not loading the tetra. I did appraoch the drivers and coach after the match to explain that (since they couldn't see the zip tie fingers from their angle) so they wouldn't have a bitter memory of that match and so they knew for the future. The drivers and coach graciously listened without complaining.

[ConKbot of Doom]

The only problem we had with the auto loaders was that on thursday, we were picking up tetras without being in the loading zone, and no one said anything to us about it. That became an issue on friday in the first match. From one side, I say I don't care, if were not in the zone, but loading go ahead and let the other teams mess with us, we can deal with it. I understand where they are coming from though, safety of the attendants, we had a 6' arm (5' beam and a unfolding hook) that would have to be out horizontally when loading, get rammed by another bot, not a pretty picture for the attendant.

Thats ok, we have a human player that is awesome, we have come into the zone with the arm sticking out in the most akward of ways and she twists and turns and limbos and never got us a penalty once. Our arm backdrives with the tetra on and once she put the tetra on and got out of the station underneath the arm. I nearly crapped myself when she did that, but she didn't touch it... So the human player is working out even better than the autoloader, I'm definitely happy with that.

I don't think I saw too many autoloaders knocked over at the Chesapeake regional, but then I was in the pits a lot, so that isn't saying that much.

[krunch79prez]

i have not seen any problems with the auto-loaders yet. the volunteers at the central florida regional were very quick to reload them. the only problem i have with them is that triangle you have to be on while loading. i wish it was bigger!!!

[Jack Jones]

Originally Posted by danield710

that happened to us once during practice matches, where my borhter (abed), a former member of our team was a volunteer who did the autoload station and he forgot the load the station because he was lookin at our robot on the other side of the field, and the drivers were screaming at him for like 10 seconds

Your brother's innocent. But, although it's OK to work practice matches, a volunteer should recuse themself from all matches that involve a team to which they are affilated. It's best to sit it out, to include the entire eliminations, than to give even a hint of a conflict of interests.