pic: Team 148 - Robowranglers 2010 - Armadillo

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

There's one build day left for my team, and I just had to see this video of an awesome robot that's basically everything I ever wanted to do plus ten times more. I think I'm crying a little.

Don't cry [even virtual tears!] - everything's relative. 148 maximizes the output they get from the plentiful input resources they have, including human. If the output your team generates relative to your team's available inputs is near the same ratio as theirs, be proud of that achievement, as your results are no less impressive.

Most people in FIRST do (and if they don't, should) look beyond the absolute in determining the merits of a team's success each season.

Now on to the business of analyzing this beast, which is, I think, the most aesthetically groovy robot I've seen in my FIRST career (even with the eventual attachment of red/blue bumpers). I can see three sets of black tubing that appear to be tensioned by your arm's probably large tilt system reduction when it tilts back to grab the tower. I also see what I think maybe kinda sorta is two different attachment points near the center of the frame. Definitely one. I presume this tensioning assists the tilt in lifting the robot's max moment up from horizontal. Can you share any clarifications and further details of this particular part of your lift system?

Now I'm off to find a CNC sheet metal company in Northeast Ohio.