Physical matches

[archiver]

Posted by Fran .

Other on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode/R.S. Machines.

Posted on 7/14/99 5:46 AM MST


In Reply to: no nukes posted by Daniel on 7/13/99 10:24 PM MST:



: I always thought the robots were supposed to be built by the students with guidance from engineers....obviously ours is. It is just as obvious that many robots have had the expertise of their engineers. I like our method of the kids designing and building the robot but it will probably keep us from learning from the year before. We always build from scratch which has its limitations and we will probably always be looking for help. Hopefully we will find the right set of engineers who will become involved enough to attend outside events as we see on so many teams.

I found Rumble to be more fun than the regionals but that comes from see more competitions. The more you do and see the more you try....we all returned from regionals with a certain amount of awe ....it was amazing what some teams thought to do and that knowledge alone changed how everyone played the next time. Part of the physical play was acheived because you could go repair your robot and not worry about shipping it right to nationals without being able to repair until you arrived 3 days before competing......surely teams were more cautious at regionals........nothing to worry about at Rumble.

On another thought, thank you for all your assistance and did your robot make it back home or is it becoming a world traveler?


Fran
Team 166



I'm not saying we should blow each other up =)

: I'm just saying a little defensive tipping should be okay. For example, tipping a robot that doesn't have any floppies raised should be illegal because it could be done just as easily by holding down their basket (something GRT did in almost all of it's rounds). However, tipping a robot that is raised, significantly alters that robot's score. Teams would be encouraged to build with a lower center of gravity and certain precautions such as grabbing a pole or extending anti-tipping thingies. I expect many will disagree with this, but I just feel that robots shouldn't be encouraged to make themselves vaulnerable like they were this year. Seriously, some of those lifts were just funny. Baskets were waving in the wind. Teams shouldn't be able to get away with that. Teams should build something they can be proud of; not something that looks like it was built by high school students.

: -Daniel