To All Ramp Bots.

[GUI]

Our ramp has a rather large slit, and I wish it weren't that way. We can't cover the slit because we have to access our electronics. You can see here.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Ed Coleman

Mediocre? Do I need to remind you to go back to the picture of Scott with the banner from our win? A bot with a strong ramp can be a descent to excelent scorer also. If you don't think so, watch how we handle Purdue.

I was not meaning to imply that 829 was mediocre in any way. Nor any other hybrid team. It was a general reference to some teams sacrificing the ability to do one thing excellently for the ability to do multiple. Many teams can be successful at doing multiple things, such as 829 has quite clearly proven.

[AdamHeard]

No matter how many mentors, fabrication resources, student, money etc... there is a point when a robot's design can't be any more efficient.

At this point, some teams pull off amazing bots that do everything (team 71's standard practice). Most of the team, teams are below this point and attempting to do both will put them worse off then if they concentrated on just one.

Of course there are exceptions, but that is pretty much the way it is in FIRST.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

At this point, some teams pull off amazing bots that do everything (team 71's standard practice). Most of the team, teams are below this point and attempting to do both will put them worse off then if they concentrated on just one.

Team 71 doesn't do everything, in fact, they are often the best example of finding a niche within an alliance (and almost always the most effective niche) and executing it to the max.
On the other hand, 254 would be a pretty good example of doing almost every game task each year.

[Ed Coleman]

Don't worry guys. I was kidding. Not really offended. But here is the way I see it from experience. Two scoring bots and a defender with a ramp will dominate. It is to difficult in the finals to be a power scorer when your opponent is a power scorer as well.

[Andrew Schuetze]

Originally Posted by Pavan

The reason I am asking this is because for a crab drive system the wheels are not always aligned straight like many robots have in rows of eight. In a crab drive every wheel turns when you tap the stick so the slotted ramps are very dangerous especially for us because it is much much harder to make sure all the wheels are exactly parallel with the ramp.

Just a quick thought from an arm-chair programmer who lacks some skill. Is it possible to code in a tank-steer mode for your system? Flip a toggle on the control and all four wheels align themselves parallel to the frame and stick control reverts to a two stick tank steer... Maybe you only have a single stick drive so that is not an option...

APS

[Curt Henderson]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Team 71 doesn't do everything, in fact, they are often the best example of finding a niche within an alliance (and almost always the most effective niche) and executing it to the max.
On the other hand, 254 would be a pretty good example of doing almost every game task each year.

Team 1501 has watched Team 71 for years be dominant at one aspect of the game and this year we chose to utilize their philosophy by building a robot that does one thing very well. If you haven't seen it check out the videos in CD!

Our bot has two wings that are 2.25" high with two angled entry surfaces to prevent being blocked at our end zone line. We can deploy them in less than 2 secs and then lift two robots to a height of 14.5" from the floor in under 4 seconds. We also valved the trolley of our bot so it will continue lifting after the power is cut at the end of the match.

Our plan is to be a noise maker to limit our opponents scoring and then return to our end zone and lift two bots for the 60 point bonus.

[Alex Cormier]

Originally Posted by GUI

Our ramp has a rather large slit, and I wish it weren't that way. We can't cover the slit because we have to access our electronics. You can see here.

Possibly have the slit removeable for easy acess to the electronics?

[Jonathan Norris]

Originally Posted by GUI

Our ramp has a rather large slit, and I wish it weren't that way. We can't cover the slit because we have to access our electronics. You can see here.

I am worried for your robot, those tracks look very small. FIRST robots are not usually the most precise driving robots. I saw many failed attempts with teams trying to drive up ramps that only had 1-2" slots in the middle of them... just for the safety of your bot I would not want to drive up those ramps. FIRST bots like to drive on angles and in arch's, and not in strait lines which will make it difficult to get up those ramps in 15 seconds or so...

[Jevin H]

We were thinking about slits but there is the topic of 3 wheeled bot so this should be a video if i am right VIDEO HERE

[Travis Hoffman]

Our slotted ramps are 12" wide each with a 10" slit in the middle. They will have both outer and inner guard rails by the end of Thursday in Pittsburgh. If you aren't driving like a bat out of heck, they should be more than sufficient to keep your drive wheels "in the pipe....5x5" (random "Aliens" reference).

To 118, what about programming a "tank steer mode" into your control system that makes your swerve drive behave exactly like a single joystick (or double? not sure of your joystick setup) tank drive when climbing the ramp? Lock the steering to point the wheels straight ahead, then use the single or double joystick default driving code as a starting point. Simply avoid allowing extra degrees of steering freedom during ramp ascent.

If cappers are asking rampbots to improve their ramp designs, I feel it's only natural and fair for all of us rampbots to ask cappers what they can do to become better climbers! Let's have both robot styles think about the problem and approach a solution from both ends!

[s_forbes]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Norris

I am worried for your robot, those tracks look very small. FIRST robots are not usually the most precise driving robots. I saw many failed attempts with teams trying to drive up ramps that only had 1-2" slots in the middle of them... just for the safety of your bot I would not want to drive up those ramps. FIRST bots like to drive on angles and in arch's, and not in strait lines which will make it difficult to get up those ramps in 15 seconds or so...

Don't worry, we've thought it out already. Our ramp has rails on the sides to keep any robots for falling off, and these also prevent any robots from falling down the middle. (We will only allow compatable robots on, as only certain drivetrains will work. Our strength is our arm, so we don't plan to use the ramp much.)

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by T. Hoffman

To 118, what about programming a "tank steer mode" into your control system that makes your swerve drive behave exactly like a single joystick (or double? not sure of your joystick setup) tank drive when climbing the ramp? Lock the steering to point the wheels straight ahead, then use the single or double joystick default driving code as a starting point. Simply avoid allowing extra degrees of steering freedom during ramp ascent.

They can't. 118 has a "co-axial swerve", with all 4 drive modules powered by the same set of motors (in this case, 4 CIM and 2 FP through a DeWalt transmission). Their front and rear wheel set are each steered independently to change direction.

[The Lucas]

How about guard rails? They should help prevent you from falling off the tracks, right?

We had to cut the slots in the wood on Ship Day to make weight.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

They can't. 118 has a "co-axial swerve", with all 4 drive modules powered by the same set of motors (in this case, 4 CIM and 2 FP through a DeWalt transmission). Their front and rear wheel set are each steered independently to change direction.

I forgot about the V6. All the same direction. Guard rails are still the best bet - they can still program their system to lock their wheels into a limited amount of angular travel around "straight ahead" position so once they're in the track, they can't punch holes through the rails with the V6 or oversteer out of it.