2010 Milwaukee Wisconsin Regional

[Sam2197]

Who all is attending this regional? And if there is a team with some spare time team 2197 is still in a struggle with programming and would love some help in labview. Thank you, SEE YOU THERE

[McGurky]

Team 1716 is going to be attending! Our team has two programmers that should be able to help you out on Thursday, stop by our pit to say hi and we will be happy to help!

If you have any specific questions right now, feel free to ask!

[Chris is me]

I won't be I was originally planning on going to Japan, then my trip got canceled. I didn't have time to rebook tickets from New York to Wisconsin, so I'm instead going to a second event with my "new" team.

And it's a shame, because this regional's looking deeper than normal. Mainly, 111 will be there, and they're always impressive. Last time they were here? They won the event and somehow managed to include not one Wisconsin team! While out of state talent like 1018 and 216 will be available to them, I bet if they walk away with a medal, there will be Wisconsin or Minnesota (kind of like Wisconsin, but with some 40 year old loser quarterback on their football team) on their alliance. Anyway, you guys need to take tons of pictures of these Wildstang guys. They know how to win and you'll learn a lot whether or not they're on top of the podium when all's said and done.

93, 171, 269, 537 are the Wisconsin veterans that consistently perform at a high level, and none of them show any signs of slowing. 93 and 269 have learned a lot from previous swerve drives, and it's not at all out of the question that they'll make a repeat appearance. 171 has had the most recent success of them all, and you can never count out a team with someone named Andy B mentoring them. 537 won four events in four years from 2004-2007, and there's no reason they can't make a comeback here. Despite their success they're an under the radar power team.

706 had an AWESOME pre-ship video, and while preship videos never tell the whole story (sadly, 118 has not won 4 World Championships), they certainly look to be a very strong team at this event. Pairing them with a competent striker, perhaps with a swerve or mecanum drive, will make them find success. They'll be selected early, perhaps by a certain group of tye-dye fellows who make it to the #1 or #2 slot, and their success is dependent on smart elimination play.

1714 isn't as flashy as 706, and they're a bit harder to see on the field, but they've got a lot of the same systems that 706 has. Perhaps I'm biased, but I think they've made their best robot yet. Though 1714 has never done particularly well at their first event, this robot will break their two year dry spell in Wisconsin eliminations. With the right partner who can supplement them on the tower, they could end up with a different medal than usual around their necks. What's better than medals? MORE MEDALS! Insert joke about their robot being transparent here.

1675 has more experience with mecanum drivetrains than anyone else at the event, and experience on the field has always been their biggest weapon (their drive coach has TWO world championships under his belt). Teams like 34 have demonstrated how a versatile mecanum striker can serve a team well in eliminations, and they're probably one of the only teams at the event known for their defense, which will help them stand out due to the funky qualification system.

Three very up and coming teams for this event would be 1652, 1732, and 2039. 1652 absorbed the remaining minds behind 2970's rookie sensation, and are an underrated team in their own right, producing a robot that helped beat 71 and 1114 in elims last year. 1732 was also on that alliance, but has been more consistent. 2039's started off pretty well, with two silvers and a gold medal in 3 years. Their mecanum creation just might extend that streak.

2826's one of the nicest, most well run teams you'll ever meet, and in just their second year they've turned out a very well machined robot. After the splash that Wave made in 2009, they show no signs of slowing for 2010. If they don't win this event, they'll be all that much more prepared for their second.

EDIT: I forgot to mention a mecanum oriented team that's poised to make a huge splash at this event, 2062. CORE's got a mecanum drivebase with an elevation mechanism capable of suspension just like 2337. Knowing how robust and reliable CORE machines always turn out to be, they should do extremely well in eliminations, giving some bonus support to a "grounded" team like 706, 2826, or 1714 (hint hint hint) in addition to letting teams get an extra bonus point.

[XaulZan11]

I know I can't wait for Wisconsin.

Although Chris did a good job, I think there are a few more teams that deserve some recognition and could suprise.

1736 has traditionally built robots with some pretty high offensive potential. Their best year was in 2007 where they dominated Wisconsin with their roller-gripper and human loading, earning the top seed before being upset in the semifinals. Since then they have built some impressive robots that may not have reached their max potential.

1816 is one of Minnesota's strongest teams. Like 1736 they have not been able to repeat their sucess from 2007 when they were a division finalist on Newton. Maybe they can pair up with 111 again to win the regional like in 2006.

2077 could really suprise and shoot up in the rankings. They were quietly sucessful scoring from the close zone at a pre-ship scimmage. They may not be too verstile, but as week one has taught us, being effective from the close zone is crucial.

Like 706, 2338 built a very impressive robot last year with a helix-shooter like 217. After becomming a finalist at Midwest last year, they probably want to take the next step.

2506 was one of the best robots at Wisconsin last year. It is difficult to predict another finalist preformance, as last year was their only time making the elminations, but I wouldn't look twice if they were on one of the top alliances.

Finally, if you looking for a rookie suprise, I would check out 3197. I'm not sure they can be as successful as 2970 last year, but they showed some good signs at 537's preship scrimmage.

But, when it comes down to the end, my three favorites are: 111, 706 and 2826.

[Sam2197]

to the said mecanum teams: WE NEED YOUR HELP! Thanks for the overview of wisconsin. this is our first year attending this regional and hopefully we can figure the game out quickly and accel in it.

Team 2197: We have a pneumatic kicker, pre-load and surgical tubing syle. Mecanum drive system. possible pneaumatic shocks for bump travel. no hanging device. we can probably drive up someones ramp if there is a team like that here.

Current issue with our program: (mecanum wheels and pneumatics)

We can either get the standar arcade turn or we get forward,back,strafe and thats it. never both at the same time. What we would like is two joysticks, joystick1 is forward,back,rotate(arcade style) joystick 2 is strafe on the X-Axis and possible forward back. Anyone else doing this? we are killing ourselves on it and we cant figure out how to have two joystics for one drive either.
Next, pneumatics. we are using old festo single action cylinders. Our goal was Trigger would run two cylinders on a timing system. but now i think it would be best to do Trigger(joystick3) fires solenoid one Button 3(joystick3) fires solenoid two.

Can't wait to see you all there on thursday. I'll be sure to stop at team 1716's pits and talk to you guys and probably praise your programmers for any help they can provide.

[Aren_Hill]

I was originally planning on coming up saturday to watch, then a few things popped up to be done for our bot before midwest, so unfortunately I'll be home saturday working on things (not that i mind lol).

[McGurky]

@ Sam, your in luck as our team also has a Mecanum drive base and has successfully got it to work. We also have integrated pneumatics this year so we have experience with that. Our current joystick set up is similar to tank drive because that is what our drivers would be most accustomed to.

Both Y - Forward/Backward
Both X- Slide
Inverse Y- Spin either way

We are looking forward to helping you out. (If you would like to email your code to us and we could take a look at it before Thursday just send me a PM)

As far as your pneumatics is concerned, could you explain what each of your solenoids are doing, it would help to understand what needs to be accomplished. I would recommend that you use a timing system for the kicker as while your adrenaline is pumping, you may forget to retract the kicker-- resulting in a penalty and yellow card. (Assuming I am understanding the purpose correctly)
-McGurky

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

And it's a shame, because this regional's looking deeper than normal. Mainly, 111 will be there, and they're always impressive. Last time they were here? They won the event and somehow managed to include not one Wisconsin team!

To be fair, we had stiff competition from Wisconsin teams. We also saw some potential and incredible talent with a second year team, Winnovation and a rookie team, The Green Machine. Look at where those teams are these days.

[GBilletdeaux930]

Don't forget about 930. I know we're easily looked over but I think that will change this year.

Good luck, and see you Thursday.

[lenny8]

1018 will be there. cant wait!

[Rupnick]

If your still having mecanum problems just stop by 1675s pit. we will be more then happy to help out.

[Tyler Olds]

This regional has been picked up for webcast by NASA, but I do not see a link yet on the NASA website.

[wo-bot 141]

141 is not going to be there

[Ricky Q.]

Wisconsin Regional webcast is up!

http://robotics.arc.nasa.gov/events/...s.php#webcasts

[jspatz1]

Wisconsin referees are still calling penalties for driving over a ball. Did I misundertand Update #16?