Hints and Observations from Breakaway - Week 1

[Ed Sparks]

Here are some random thoughts about what I observed at Peachtree during week 1 of "Breakaway".

1. Balls that rest in the intersection of the bumps and the outside perimeter of the playing field are G46 "Land Mines". Be very carefull when trying to retrieve these balls. Comming over the top of a bump to recover these balls just about guarantees a G46.

2. Fast mecanum "plows" are very effective in the scoring zone but are starved of balls rather quickley. It takes kickers to keep a supply of balls comming.

3. The Q&A indicates that it is ok to plow multiple balls as long as they are not possessing more than one. This was mis-understood at Peachtree.

4. There were far too many teams at Peachtree with the wrong cRIO and DS image. This caused great loss of practice time and some missed matches. You absolutely must have the latest versions or you will not connect to the FMS. Bring it with you if your not sure!

5. Bungee cords and surgical tubing are not effective in keeping balls from violating G46. You really need some sort of hardware that floats vertically and rests below the center of the ball when your not on the bump.

6. I stick with my opinion that a good plow-bot can score more points with balls then with hanging in the finale (If you can get the balls in the score zone before the finale).

7. The inspection process was longer this year. Don't wait until the last hour to get this done. At Peachtree, we only managed to pass about 55% of the teams at pit closing on Thursday night. The big ticket items were software versions, pneumatics, and bill-of-materials. The BOM process is different this year, take time now to get it right and be prepared. The inspection process requires that you submit your BOM electronicaly to the inspector's table where a copy is placed on a PC. There's a required format that's available from FIRST in the game documents page. One more thing, your suppost to break your BOM into components (including the kit parts). Don't bring a BOM that has something like "Quantity 1 - Frame ..... $100".

8. Charge your classmate every chance you get. There is a definate problem for teams that make it to the final 8 concerning this. At Peachtree, half of the classmates were just about to die when the last match was played (due to all of the delays and tie matches). Get a plan now, make someone responsible to manage this.

9. I observed the wierd main breaker issue again this year and it even bit our team in the finals. Make your field team aware of the possibility that the main breaker could open on it's own without actually tripping. If your robot "dies" for some unexplained reason during the match, have your team first notice if there's any power on the power distribution panel. If not, have them check the 120A main breaker to see if it's tripped. If it's not, then you too were bit by this and it's not the fault of the FMS. I'd like for all of us to watch for this and I'd like to know about it if you see it.

10. Bumper construction was better that I expected this year. The only significant issues I had were those who used bumper covers. Your still expected to be able to remove the bumpers for the inspection process. Some didn't expect to remove their bumpers and it was painful for them. The covers were also a bit of a problem beacuse they were often a loose fit and sagged down below the 10" lower bumper limit. If your in this camp, figure out a way to take up the slack.

11. I'll bet 75% of the teams this year used pneumatics (many for the first time). Be sure your using the FIRST supplied primary regulator(60psi). many teams don't realize that the last module on the cRIO can directly drive the solenoid valves. Many still think your required to use spikes. You can do either but using spikes adds weight and is unnecessary.

12. Too many robots came out of the box with kickers that could break the bumper perimeter plane. Inspection and referees are looking for this.

Hope this helps your team and good luck.