Tank Track

[NoahTheBoa]

For a tank tread system to work effectively you should make sure that the tracks are tensioned correctly so that the tread doesn't sag.

[ManicMechanic]

Moving the treads apart slightly and using rubber bands or non-skid padding allows sufficient room for the cubes while maintaining grip that "gives."

[SCROSSLEY-GCEC]

Hi Guys,

Competition was last Saturday.
We ended up redoing our design to go with the side tracks, because when we finally got the horizontal going it was too heavy for the 'bot to drive properly.
we made it to the semi's (i drove ) but then lost out when our alliance bot malfunctioned so the other alliance was faster than us oh well, we were so happy to make semi's - as did the other team from our school who played in the other semi and lost too.

Will put up photos tomorrow or the next day when i can (finally) get them from my teammate

If we make it to Dallas look us up

[SCROSSLEY-GCEC]

2 weeks later:
received photos yesterday ^^;; real sorry guys

http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k5/purpanie/Robotics/

phr34kR - we liked your banner
(ours: http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...t=img_0327.jpg)

[gblake]

Originally Posted by SCROSSLEY-GCEC

... received photos yesterday ...

Thanks!

What's that odd-looking machine next to you on the field in picture 15?

Blake

[SCROSSLEY-GCEC]

that was the 'bot made with partially non-VEX parts who were on our alliance. they had a cable-based elevator lift which worked to good effect when it wasn't breaking down

[gblake]

Originally Posted by SCROSSLEY-GCEC

that was the 'bot made with partially non-VEX parts who were on our alliance. they had a cable-based elevator lift which worked to good effect when it wasn't breaking down

Non-Vex parts??? That is odd.

Here in the US we are only allowed to use Vex parts - Does being far away from IFI's warehouses mean the rules were relaxed for your tournament, or was it an "unofficial" tournament? or was something else going on?

Blake

[phr34kR]

hi, ATM we are just having non official competitions and you are allowed to modify anything you wist freely the electronics etc. you are also allowed to use not vex material. There will be official competitions in March? though to decide on the teams that go to America to compete. Saying that our VEX robot that was fully VEX came second while our other robot that includes some curtain rail and sheet aluminum was on the winning alliance. our team is trying to get our robots as close to fully VEX as we can ATM so come the official competitions we will have a trialed design.

-unfortunately our banner is no more (heavily taped and zip-tied) we will hopefully be getting a proper final one soon though

[SCROSSLEY-GCEC]

Originally Posted by gblake

Non-Vex parts??? That is odd.

Here in the US we are only allowed to use Vex parts - Does being far away from IFI's warehouses mean the rules were relaxed for your tournament, or was it an "unofficial" tournament? or was something else going on?

Blake

as phr34kR said, ours aren't currently qualifying for champs.
its mostly the cost of importing parts from the U.S. i think, so to get us some practice - since this is the first year of VEX in New Zealand - they currently allowing non-VEX parts.

Saying that our VEX robot that was fully VEX came second while our other robot that includes some curtain rail and sheet aluminum was on the winning alliance. our team is trying to get our robots as close to fully VEX as we can ATM so come the official competitions we will have a trialed design.

we had our pneumatic-claw robot (christened ricebot by me and some mates - long story) in one semi and our tank tread bot (Philup ) in the other, both with full VEX parts. oh, except for the flashing LEDs on the ricebot when one of the boys got bored, and the tinsel on Philup

of the eight bots in the semi's at least three were full VEX and i believe it was more like three that weren't

i think the next competition is March 9th - not sure if that counts for champs though
see you in the finals phr34kR? unfortunately i don't think i will be driving next time though as the seniors like to do everything themselves (*yr 10* )

unfortunately our banner is no more (heavily taped and zip-tied) we will hopefully be getting a proper final one soon though

awww that really sucks, we'll have ours there next competition. we're VERY proud of it haha
saw your buttons, too. they were cool we hope to have ours for next competition so might have to organize an exchange

[Andrew Bates]

How many New Zealand teams are there?

[phr34kR]

I think there are around twenty something teams, not sure on the exact number but i am fairly sure there are under 30. Shipping is the major killer we order US$600 worth of parts which end up costing us around NZ$1000 add on top of that NZ$600 worth of shipping (if we ordered it ourselves luckily we can add our stuff in with the university that runs it) But it makes it almost impossible to order without pooling our orders together at least for our team and the limited funds we have. We do however have a very supportive school that will cover the costs while we fund raise.

[SCROSSLEY-GCEC]

Originally Posted by corpralchee

How many New Zealand teams are there?

Depends how many each school enters general amount is about 28

We do however have a very supportive school that will cover the costs while we fund raise

you're really lucky. Our school gave us $2000 to cover all our VEX kits, button maker, spare parts, decorative stuff (banner etc) and everything else up until our FRC competition. it was gone at the beginning from three VEX kits plus disposable batteries >_>
everything currently is coming out of our Head Mentors pocket, which kinda sucks. we need to start fundraising too.

[phr34kR]

I should probably clear that up, i believe we have paid off all our debts but i think its cool how your school actually gave you some money, we have had to fund raise the entire thing. I'm glad we changed to the rechargeable's we went through $80 worth of batteries in a day of competition plus another $50 on practice for the competition.

[SCROSSLEY-GCEC]

so you didnt actually start off with any money?
yeah we spent $80 on batteries at Dick Smiths for the Kristin Competition and i think they were all gone by the end. we're looking into the VEX batteries but they're just so expensive and we still need to pay back our mentor.

[Trueliez]

Originally Posted by SCROSSLEY-GCEC

Hi Guys,

Competition was last Saturday.
We ended up redoing our design to go with the side tracks, because when we finally got the horizontal going it was too heavy for the 'bot to drive properly.
we made it to the semi's (i drove) but then lost out when our alliance bot malfunctioned so the other alliance was faster than us oh well, we were so happy to make semi's - as did the other team from our school who played in the other semi and lost too.

Will put up photos tomorrow or the next day when i can (finally) get them from my teammate

If we make it to Dallas look us up

Yes, that competition went really well. I was so thrilled to see Phillup get so far in it, especially after the trials of building him!
I never thought I would get into building chassis, but I guess that's one of the beauties of FIRST - steep learning curves.

I'm not sure whether I thought there was more or less variation in the designs of the 'bots between the competing teams this time round. I did notice however that there were less quirky experimental ones and more that worked consistently throughout the matches.
I miss the quirks, because it made it entertaining to watch, but I think it goes to show that the teams here are really starting to focus and hone skills.

Correction dear, when we get to Dalhas

Originally Posted by SCROSSLEY-GCEC

2 weeks later:
received photos yesterday ^^;; real sorry guys

http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k5/purpanie/Robotics/

phr34kR - we liked your banner
(ours: http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...t=img_0327.jpg)

Good to see my photography gets put to good use
Sorry about the delay on the photos, technical difficulties with the camera and it's cable.

And I agree, the banners at the competition looked fantastic

Originally Posted by SCROSSLEY-GCEC

Depends how many each school enters general amount is about 28


you're really lucky. Our school gave us $2000 to cover all our VEX kits, button maker, spare parts, decorative stuff (banner etc) and everything else up until our FRC competition. it was gone at the beginning from three VEX kits plus disposable batteries >_>
everything currently is coming out of our Head Mentors pocket, which kinda sucks. we need to start fundraising too.

The $2000 was actually a grant from the local ASB branch which was sourced by our principal. Unfortunately it didn't even cover the three VEX kits. It bothers me that our Mentor is spending so much on our team, though I know it's his passion, and that's something I would really like to change this year.