Team 71's 2002 robot

[Tim Baird]

Originally Posted by Ice Berg

What are filecards?

Filecards are used to clean files, and have many small metal teeth/fingers. Try sticking one into a carpet sometime and pulling. Good luck moving it.

We (190) used them as well, but as anchors. The robot would drive in between two goals, latch on with cables/hooks and drive past into our zone. The anchors would push down into the carpet, raise the drive wheels, and then pull the goals back. It was literally impossible to move the robot. I had always hoped to go head-to-head with 71 to see if they could move us without ripping a hole in the carpet underneath one/both of our robots, but we never met up on the field.

[Dan Petrovic]

Originally Posted by Tim Baird

We (190) used them as well, but as anchors. The robot would drive in between two goals, latch on with cables/hooks and drive past into our zone. The anchors would push down into the carpet, raise the drive wheels, and then pull the goals back. It was literally impossible to move the robot. I had always hoped to go head-to-head with 71 to see if they could move us without ripping a hole in the carpet underneath one/both of our robots, but we never met up on the field.

The only way to move the goals 190 hung onto was to literally rip the robot in half. Didn't that happen at Battlecry that year?

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by InfernoX14

The only way to move the goals 190 hung onto was to literally rip the robot in half. Didn't that happen at Battlecry that year?

We (311/308/180) faced 190 in the first round of the eliminations that year.

[EricLeifermann]

At the Midwest regional that year my team, 93, beat them to the center goal by about 1 sec and rammed it into them lifting the top of their robot into the middle of the two platforms lifting all their wheels of the ground causing them to not move the rest of the match. We ended up winning the match, I've never heard a crowd cheer louder in all my years since, when that happened.

[Kevin Kolodziej]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

At the Midwest regional that year my team, 93, beat them to the center goal by about 1 sec and rammed it into them lifting the top of their robot into the middle of the two platforms lifting all their wheels of the ground causing them to not move the rest of the match. We ended up winning the match, I've never heard a crowd cheer louder in all my years since, when that happened.

You guys hit us so hard that the goal was embedded in the front plate of our robot by a good quarter inch. It took three of us to pry it off I believe.

In the second match of the Einstein finals, SPAM beat us to the center goal and our arms missed the outer goals. We were left without any goals and that robot was not designed to do anything more than move forward fast and then move forward slow. I tried to do what I could to turn the robot and the intent was to push the goals and all robots into our endzone, but that never happened as an axle got bent as our robot got smashed against the side rail. We sat the third match as 173 and 66 finished what we had started.

Ah the good old days

[Ice Berg]

Kevin,

could you describe how the walking/shuffling mechanism was designed/how it worked?

[Brian C]

Originally Posted by Kevin Kolodziej

I tried to do what I could to turn the robot and the intent was to push the goals and all robots into our endzone, but that never happened as an axle got bent as our robot got smashed against the side rail.

Thanks for clearing up what actually happened Kevin. I know from our vantage point at the time we could not actually see much of the match.

[Chris Hibner]

I found another video that I had on my laptop from 2002, so I uploaded it to YouTube. It is of the Midwest Regional finals. There is a great closeup of the walking filecards from 0:23 to 0:27.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4slvnvPHW8

[Dave Scheck]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

I found another video that I had on my laptop from 2002, so I uploaded it to YouTube.

dang it Chris, why'd you have to find video of that match? If you watch the last 10 seconds of the match, our manipulator shot two balls into the goal. Those 2 balls cost us the match because they counted for the other alliance. The story that I remember the manipulator saying was that he was coached to empty out whatever balls we had at the end of the match. Needless to say, we replaced coach Dan with Raul in 2003 and have been doing well since...except for that little winch brake incident at Great Lakes in 2004

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by Dave Scheck

dang it Chris, why'd you have to find video of that match? If you watch the last 10 seconds of the match, our manipulator shot two balls into the goal. Those 2 balls cost us the match because they counted for the other alliance. The story that I remember the manipulator saying was that he was coached to empty out whatever balls we had at the end of the match. Needless to say, we replaced coach Dan with Raul in 2003 and have been doing well since...except for that little winch brake incident at Great Lakes in 2004

You want to hear something funny? I remembered that about this match and I was trying like crazy to find another video with a closeup, but I couldn't so I posted this one. I was hoping people would see the closeup and stop the video before it got to the end to save you guys the shame. But then you had to bring it up...

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Dave Scheck

dang it Chris, why'd you have to find video of that match? If you watch the last 10 seconds of the match, our manipulator shot two balls into the goal. Those 2 balls cost us the match because they counted for the other alliance. The story that I remember the manipulator saying was that he was coached to empty out whatever balls we had at the end of the match. Needless to say, we replaced coach Dan with Raul in 2003 and have been doing well since...except for that little winch brake incident at Great Lakes in 2004

I remember that little winch brake incident in 04. Now I feel old... That robot was pretty awesome though.

The more you guys talk about 2002 the more I wish I was around then.

[Jim Meyer]

It's furn to see all these names I recognize.

If I recall correctly the file cards were on short legs that allowed the file cards to pivot back and up when the carrier was moved forward. They were beautifully constructed.

They were having issues with being turned around at West Michigan. It was a purpose built machine, it could only move forward and couldn't really turn, so if you could turn them around they couldn't move the goals into their home zone. They had added file card material to the rear wheels to prevent this at the championship.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Dave Scheck

dang it Chris, why'd you have to find video of that match? If you watch the last 10 seconds of the match, our manipulator shot two balls into the goal. Those 2 balls cost us the match because they counted for the other alliance. The story that I remember the manipulator saying was that he was coached to empty out whatever balls we had at the end of the match. Needless to say, we replaced coach Dan with Raul in 2003 and have been doing well since...except for that little winch brake incident at Great Lakes in 2004

Pardon my vague recollection of 2002 rules (it looks like you lost 31-30), and not to rub it in, but why didn't 519 release the goal and leave the zone to make the last two balls 111 scored a moot point?

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

I found another video that I had on my laptop from 2002, so I uploaded it to YouTube. It is of the Midwest Regional finals. There is a great closeup of the walking filecards from 0:23 to 0:27.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4slvnvPHW8

Is that 45 shooting the ball straight up to themselves at the top of the hopper ?? To think, that was only 7 years ago and you'd be hard pressed to find a team that did that this year.

I don't have sound on right now, so the game doesn't look too exciting. I'll have to read the rules later. I too wish I was around in 2002!

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by JesseK

Is that 45 shooting the ball straight up to themselves at the top of the hopper ?? To think, that was only 7 years ago and you'd be hard pressed to find a team that did that this year.

Yeah, that was us. I think that was the lightest conveyor ever... made of nothing!

This was a typical Mark Koors invention. During brainstorming, he said "let's just throw the balls up into the basket with a wheel". The students and other mentors (me included) just said... "yeah, right". After many weeks of tweaking, this ball thrower was very efficient.

I have the dubious honor of being the coach in this match AND the dreadful F-3 match at Boilermaker this year. Maybe I should remind our alliance before each final-finals match "hey... let's try not to score on ourselves."

Andy B.