TEAM 1699 BUILD CONCEPT!

[JesseK]

1885 used 2007's prototype frame that had a million holes in it (but it was still purple) to make a new scrimmage bot for offseason events. This scrimmage bot was the first 1885 bot that was fully CADed and was also the first 1885 bot that used pneumatics. Needless to say, prototypes do not have to go to waste.

That said, we have this year's basic prototype concept frame done and hope to have the drivers driving within the first week so the programmers know who they're programming for. This frame will also be used in the offseason for experimentation with any whacky drive train ideas anyone comes up with.

I don't think 2 frames is a waste, though imho 2 sets of parts for 2 robots is.

[Taylor]

Two Indiana teams spring to mind from 2007 - 45 built two Rack bots (I believe one was kit and one was spare parts) which allowed them to practice driving & programming through March. This led to their victory at St. Louis and a very close call at the Boilermaker Regional.
234 bought two kits as I recall, with the intention of allowing the upstart POWER team to use the secondary bot. They not only won the BMR but gained a ton of awards.
For teams fortunate enough to do so, building two robots is certainly beneficial.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by boiler

For teams fortunate enough to do so, building two robots is certainly beneficial.

Definitely the case here. 330 built one in three weeks, even before the decision on how to work ramps was reached. (Accomodations were made in case we wanted to use them. We didn't.) The remaining three were spent in refining the design to perfection. Everyone was happier--programmers could test auto modes, drivers could practice, engineers could make small modifications quickly. Then, when we traveled, we took apart the running gear of the practice robot and removed the arm and brought those with us for spare parts. (Which is where our spare arm came from on Einstein.)

Four uses of practice robots: Concept check, program test, driver practice, and spare parts (if you do it right). Keeping your real design semi-secret at pre-ship events is another advantage--unless you do really well!

[Grant Cox]

217 has made a practice bot for as long as I can think of (since 05 for sure, before that I dont know but possibly). This year it was especially useful, as the game required exquisite driver/operator skill and cooperation. The biggest advantage I know of (from a driver's POV) is the literally unlimited drive practice. We were there almost every day after school on our practice field, trying out new strategies, just working on our "oneness" as a whole.

I also know 1114 had ridiculous drive practice sessions, and if you ever got the chance to see their bot in action this year you'd see that right away.

[cobrawanabe1699]

Thanks for all your tips and discussion! We work closely with 236, and they hav built practice bots for atleast the last few years. Look slike its goin down. Please continue the conversation, It will help young teams like us!

[Bob Steele]

When my first team (1018 go ROBODEVILS!!!) started, we had a hard time doing anything more than building one robot. When we finally made the decision to build a second version it was a great advantage for the drivers.
Once you make the decision to do it, you can invest and use that controller for the next year's 2nd bot.

I would strongly suggest that anyone thinks about it seriously. It is a great test bed in the off season and can be loaned out.

This year on 1983 we are building two drive bases...and we are inviting any other Seattle/Washington teams over to practice driving the one that stays home. It may only be a drive base but from my experience, just driving around on a large field can help immensely.

The experience of standing up and driving up on a regulation size field is quite important.

Acquiring the FIRST objects is very difficult at distance. Getting that perspective on a full size field can be extremely helpful. Just standing and driving back and forth or up and down is also helpful.

We invite anyone over to our place to try out their robot or use one of ours just to drive around... get the feel fo a field... become friends!!!

We hope to see you here!!!

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Bob Steele

This year on 1983 we are building two drive bases...and we are inviting any other Seattle/Washington teams over to practice driving the one that stays home. It may only be a drive base but from my experience, just driving around on a large field can help immensely.

We'll be there. We already have the drive train; we're hoping to duplicate whatever we build for competition on that so we can get as much practice in as possible.

[artdutra04]

This year, 228 is planning on building a clone of our real robot to be a practice robot. Last year we came close to having one, except time and money reasons kept it from being completed.

[Dan Petrovic]

Team 166 tried building identical robots last year. While it didn't work out exactly as we had planned, it still provided us with a good chance to make the second (competition) robot, get a little bit of driving practice, and a lot of spares.

Hubs were welded onto a shaft in the elbow, so if the shaft broke that's it. Of course, while practicing before River Rage, the shaft broke. Fortunately we took the effort 6 months before to build an identical robot and had an entire new arm to put in place of the broken one.

It would be better to make identical robots with identical materials, not one out of plywood and one out of aluminum. This is for spare part purposes and so driving the robots feel the same.

Also, make sure your budget can accomodate both robots. We decided to use AM mecanum wheels with a healthy amount of Banebots transmissions with encoders mounted on them. We pretty much ran out of money.

There are a lot of risks to take like having enough money, time alotted, etc. but if you do it right, you can end up with a machine that the drivers can use to practice and the programmers can use for autonomous. In a game like last year's where driver skill is incredibly important, this concept can be huge.

[Pavan Dave]

Our team makes two bots. The 3week bot (you may have already seen videos) and the final bot. We keep weight and stuff in mind but don't focus on it 100%. On the final bot we mod the designs from the practice bot to make it functional and effective and than after ship we make those mods to our 3week robot. It works well and many other teams (I'm pretty sure almost every team that makes it to einstein) have a practice robot.

[Laaba 80]

What do you do with the practice bot after ship??

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Laaba 80

What do you do with the practice bot after ship??

Is this a trick question? You practice with it. You give your drivers a chance to get really good before the first competition. You can use the fix-it windows to tweak your software and get it working exactly as you want on real hardware. You prototype upgrade parts that you can then fabricate either during a fix-it window or at competition.

A clonebot that stays at home after you ship the competition 'bot can be a powerful advantage if used well.