The Perfect Design

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Posted by Dan, Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret's and Banner Engineering.

Posted on 3/2/99 8:59 PM MST



OK, the title is wrong. It was just meant to get you to read this. Although my design isn't perfect, I think it's really good. Unfortunately I thought of this just weeks ago so I haven't bothered mentioning it to anyone. But I need to get it out and just see what everyone thinks.
The very basic idea of the design is: get to the puck as quickly as possible and lock onto both poles so no one can climb them. Then, raise the mast and unfold the box covered in velcro (on the inside only). Rotate the mast (via the big red gear on the base) as necessary so your opponents can't throw floppies at the velcro. Throw all human player floppies at the velcro wall while your ally (if they are not blocked) pushes in more floppies to throw. At the end, refold the velcro box to it's starting position if some floppies are below 8 feet.
Assuming no one else can get on the puck and they push the puck to your side (giving them a doubler, but giving you an easy throw), the highest they can get is 60. Therefore if you get 7 floppies over 8 feet you are guarenteed a win.
This robot would be built to get to the puck and climb it as quickly as possible and only for that purpose. The white pole with the yellow circle at the top is a rough version of the spring-loaded pole-lock arms that would be lowered to stabilize as well.
One of the few ways to beat this design that I can think of is to push the puck so close to to their side that their drivers' stations block the throw- I don't know how effective that would be.
This design would be tough to build, but definitely not beyond the range of most teams.
So, if you encountered this robot in a match, how would you defeat it?
What are its weaknesses?
I've thought this one through and it all checks, but perhaps I'm not being realistic.
I hope I have conveyed my idea effectively, I'm notoriously bad at that.
:-Dan

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Posted by Bethany Dunning, Coach on team #163, Quantum Mechanics, from International Academy and Quantum Consultants/EATON/ITT Industries.

Posted on 3/3/99 6:30 AM MST


In Reply to: The Perfect Design posted by Dan on 3/2/99 8:59 PM MST:



One thing i noticed - not all the teams use the poles to get onto the puck.
covering the poles may not be enough to keep other teams from getting on.

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Posted by Dan, Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret's and Banner Engineering.

Posted on 3/3/99 8:29 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: The Perfect Design posted by Bethany Dunning on 3/3/99 6:30 AM MST:



If one robot is centered and on top of the puck, only a very small robot can fit on the space given. :-Dan

: One thing i noticed - not all the teams use the poles to get onto the puck.
: covering the poles may not be enough to keep other teams from getting on.

[archiver]

Posted by Bethany Dunning, Coach on team #163, Quantum Mechanics, from International Academy and Quantum Consultants/EATON/ITT Industries.

Posted on 3/3/99 9:08 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: The Perfect Design posted by Dan on 3/3/99 8:29 AM MST:



But if a very small robot (and the size of that is something that i ponder)
can fit on the puck, then your design isn't perfect. also, a perfect design
should also allow the robot of your alliance team to get on to get that
extra tripler.

: If one robot is centered and on top of the puck, only a very small robot can fit on the space given. :-Dan

: : One thing i noticed - not all the teams use the poles to get onto the puck.
: : covering the poles may not be enough to keep other teams from getting on.

[archiver]

Posted by David, Student on team #269, BruQuest, from Oconomowoc High School and Quest .

Posted on 3/3/99 5:51 PM MST


In Reply to: The Perfect Design posted by Dan on 3/2/99 8:59 PM MST:



OK, here is what I have to say:
Our robot used a system to climb the puck that would allow it to climb
the puck even with your robot on it. It's not easy to explain. Basically
we climb the puck and then not completely on it just raise our backwheels
to be off the ground. (We don't use the poles though... it worked really
good. We had only one match at the Midwest Open, not ending up on the puck)
Our design also lets us move the puck while being on it, we just have to
raise the backwheels to again be off the ground. So your robot would allow
us to get the 2-multiplier and the 3-multiplier for being on the puck.
but your idea is not bad though ;-)
CYA
David

[archiver]

Posted by Bethany Dunning, Coach on team #163, Quantum Mechanics, from International Academy and Quantum Consultants/EATON/ITT Industries.

Posted on 3/4/99 12:54 PM MST


In Reply to: Not perfect ;-) There is no PERFECT design in my view posted by David on 3/3/99 5:51 PM MST:



Your design to get on the puck sounds a lot like ours. We didn't know how
reliable "climbing" the poles was going to be.

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Posted by Dan, Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret's and Banner Engineering.

Posted on 3/7/99 9:00 PM MST


In Reply to: Not perfect ;-) There is no PERFECT design in my view posted by David on 3/3/99 5:51 PM MST:



It's definitely not perfect- as I mentioned in the first line of my message- but it's what I'd do if I could do it all over again.
And to stop a clever team like yours that doesn't need that much space on the puck, I'd do like Ursus de Mortus (sp?) did in the CA regional and just drop some PVC arms down to occupy that puck space.
After a weekend of floppy tossing I realized that my design makes total sense because the floppies are so easy to throw. :-Dan


: OK, here is what I have to say:
: Our robot used a system to climb the puck that would allow it to climb
: the puck even with your robot on it. It's not easy to explain. Basically
: we climb the puck and then not completely on it just raise our backwheels
: to be off the ground. (We don't use the poles though... it worked really
: good. We had only one match at the Midwest Open, not ending up on the puck)
: Our design also lets us move the puck while being on it, we just have to
: raise the backwheels to again be off the ground. So your robot would allow
: us to get the 2-multiplier and the 3-multiplier for being on the puck.
: but your idea is not bad though ;-)
: CYA
: David