Breakaway in review: what have we learned?

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

Third!

4th! Before ship, we were literally flipping our robot over and letting it hit the ground as hard as it could, then checking what did and did not hold together, fixing what didn't, and then doing it again.

And again.

And again...

During the FLR, we popped a chain twice, had a set screw fail on us, and had to reweld our kicker (after it got pulverized by a bump)... That's it.

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We also learned that controlling the mid-field is controlling the game, and that ball starvation + hanging is the ideal strategy for winning games.

[JesseK]

I'll fifth Billfred's sentiments. A single loose nut cost us a Yellow Card and thus the semifinals in DC. We thought we'd worked everything out long before then, yet some things take a LONG time to come up.

The coach, if he/she is tall, can see nearly every ball on the field. The far-zone balls reflect off of the diamond plate on the other side of the field, giving a pretty good estimation of where the ball is. Using the tape on the carpet to guide the driver to it is how we got an easy shutout in our QF1. The bumps are only in 4ft segments, and the carpet is taped in between each segment.

Losing a week of build to snow means nothing. We seem to do better at our first regional in the years we lose a week to snow.

The AM toughbox nano's standard gear ratio, direct-driven to 6" wheels, is plenty fast for this year's game. Speaking of, our Nano's (hex) held up to the unscrupulous beating they took while going over the bumps and taking a hard hit on the other side ... cantilevered !. This is the 2nd year we've supported 150lbs through cantilevered AM toughboxes and we can now testify that AM doesn't call them "toughbox" for nothing. We did have to add the washers to the inside of the Nano's so the output shaft bearing wouldn't slip. We also burned each motor/transmission combo in for 30 minutes with plenty of lithium grease.

Center of Gravity is HUGE this year. It was fun to see all of the wheelies on Thursday (1024 slamming it full forward and popping one on purpose was hilarious). I didn't see a single drive train with the naturally-articulating 2-wheel pods (8 total wheels) tip.

Teams who stuck with the 'fast' version of the KOP drive train and have the simplest kicker with good drivers have a GOOD chance of teaming with a complex robot and making it to Atlanta. That team is the offensive zone robot and nothing else; let the complex robots handle the mid-field battle and hanging.

This year it is imperative to not give up, not one bit! Keep fighting to move balls towards your zone, mindful of the penalties. Additionally, don't take too long to line up that long-field shot -- just get it down there!

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by JesseK

The AM toughbox nano's standard gear ratio, direct-driven to 6" wheels, is plenty fast for this year's game. Speaking of, our Nano's (hex) held up to the unscrupulous beating they took while going over the bumps and taking a hard hit on the other side ... cantilevered !. This is the 2nd year we've supported 150lbs through cantilevered AM toughboxes and we can now testify that AM doesn't call them "toughbox" for nothing. We did have to add the washers to the inside of the Nano's so the output shaft bearing wouldn't slip. We also burned each motor/transmission combo in for 30 minutes with plenty of lithium grease.

For the show, that's roughly 8 feet per second on a non-mecanum drive. I know my team was planning on a 12FPS configuration using 6 motors, but a few tests showed that 8FPS was plenty fast for a driver that hadn't tackled carpet before. With the bumps less than 24 feet apart, being able to get across 2 zones in 4 seconds would be nice but I think that's definitely not integral this year

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

For the show, that's roughly 8 feet per second on a non-mecanum drive. I know my team was planning on a 12FPS configuration using 6 motors, but a few tests showed that 8FPS was plenty fast for a driver that hadn't tackled carpet before. With the bumps less than 24 feet apart, being able to get across 2 zones in 4 seconds would be nice but I think that's definitely not integral this year

Actually the gear ratio gives ~11.5 fps before losses. The direct drive and burn in process make it VERY efficient, so I'd say we were hitting 9.5-10fps.

[ks_mumupsi]

all agreed.... i think watching this match will show you what durability means.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbklr2IPDmw

Team 2016 (our team) and 25 took it to the maximum limit possible without getting penalized.

It was brutal it was harsh and it was fun...

(we destroyed two drive modules on team 25, we found out later).....

durability means everything in this years game, being on the field and functioning 100% of the team.

[rsisk]

Originally Posted by ks_mumupsi

all agreed.... i think watching this match will show you what durability means.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbklr2IPDmw

Team 2016 (our team) and 25 took it to the maximum limit possible without getting penalized.

It was brutal it was harsh and it was fun...

(we destroyed two drive modules on team 25, we found out later).....

durability means everything in this years game, being on the field and functioning 100% of the team.

Hilarious, like watching brothers and sisters fight What was even better was the robots from the other zones coming in to swoop up balls while you guys were battling.

Great clip, thanks for sharing.

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by rsisk

Hilarious, like watching brothers and sisters fight What was even better was the robots from the other zones coming in to swoop up balls while you guys were battling.

Great clip, thanks for sharing.

actually we would rather be shooting balls into the goals but 2016 had other ideas!!!

[coldfusion1279]

Watching that match, I am not sure the refs were counting the 6 feet off for 3 seconds rule. At one point the ref was counting (with the hand like in wrestling or basketball back court violations), but stopped after 2016 backed away... but that was it. Interesting.

[DiehardCybercard]

One thing I learned at the DC regional is that soccer balls like to go inside robots a lot more than anyone had anticipated. that penalty must have been called over 200 times. I would suggest teams make sure they have good ball gaurds.

Penalties make a big difference this year.

[coldfusion1279]

Good point but most of the time it was for robots driving on top of the ball... at least at NJ that was the case. They fixed the rule so that the ball can intrude more than 3 inches accidentally, but you must try and fix it before continuing to play... Update 16

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by DiehardCybercard

I would suggest teams make sure they have good ball gaurds.

We used cable ties between our wheel pylons, and got one ball penalty all regional (for driving over a ball against a hump that our driver didn't even see).

[tanguma26]

Hey Guys

our regional is next week and i was wondering if any of the teams use their camera during competion or the gyro.

Please let me know

Thank You.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by tanguma26

Hey Guys

our regional is next week and i was wondering if any of the teams use their camera during competion or the gyro.

Please let me know

Thank You.

There were a handful of teams using the Camera in Various Capacities at NJ.

Most of these just had the Camera Feeding to the Driver's Station, but a few teams were able to use them for camera assisted autonomous scoring.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by tanguma26

Hey Guys

our regional is next week and i was wondering if any of the teams use their camera during competion or the gyro.

Please let me know

Thank You.

Our team uses the camera to line up the suction cup and balls. It is aimed down in the front of the robot so it helps the drivers get balls in tough spots. We also use the gyro in our autonomous.


Good luck next week!

[SteveGPage]

Originally Posted by tanguma26

Hey Guys

our regional is next week and i was wondering if any of the teams use their camera during competion or the gyro.

Please let me know

Thank You.

We do. In both autonomous and teleop. We have a camera assisted shooting mechanism.