[Vid]:125 NUtrons Hang and Redirect

[Akash Rastogi]

I wanted to make sure what happened to 125 in Boston, doesn't happen again.


so here ya go folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzS9-M8Dcxg

From another thread:

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

They have a few variables in their system.

1) The ball first bounces on one of the horizontal bars of the ball return so this variable greatly effects the behavior of the ball in their system.

2) Speed variations of the ball coming down the ball return would change the free-fall of the ball from their director dramatically (I know right, "no duh" moment).

3) They are able to adjust the angle of their robot once they hang, so yet again, variable.

But even with slight problems, we were all stunned that they were not selected in Boston because
1) They guarantee a hanging bonus

2) They direct the ball into the near zone, who cares if it doesn't go into the goal 100% of the time???

I really don't think people in Boston understood the real value of a robot that guarantees balls returning to the near zone.

Note- these were my observations from Boston, Brandon and his crew have made changes to improve consistency.


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[Chris is me]

I feel bad for 125. They couldn't feed themselves, so they probably looked bad on scouts when their partners didn't feed them, and if the ball missed a goal I imagine teams just thought that was as bad as letting it idle in the middle.

I bet a low seeded team on Newton will pick them and go very far.

[johnr]

A few questions.
Can they hang in auto or get into position to hang?
If blocked from hanging can they clear balls out of mid-field?
Can they re-direct balls to either goal?
If yes to all then what were those teams thinking in Boston?
One more, can they get down if loop doesn't start?

[sgreco]

Originally Posted by johnr

Can they hang in auto or get into position to hang?

As of the end of Boston they were getting in position in autonomous, but not hanging, however they are working on hanging in autonomous for Atlanta.

If blocked from hanging can they clear balls out of mid-field?

They can't clear balls, but in Boston their positioning in autonomous was good enough such that they would begin to hang less than a few seconds after teleop started, which wasn't enough time for anyone to try to block. If they get the hanging in autonomous, then there's no stopping them.

Can they re-direct balls to either goal?

Yes

If yes to all then what were those teams thinking in Boston?

I think everyone is wondering the same thing.

[Andy Grady]

I was in the "Wow, I can't believe they didn't get picked" camp. They had a few problems catching the balls at times, but that looked to be taken care of on Saturday morning. They even had a decent showing in a round on Saturday morning. I think that they suffered plainly from a bad schedule. When they hung, and were in position...partners were not scoring. When partners did score, the balls were sailing over the catcher device (fixed on saturday). Other than that...it looked just fine.

I would imagine that they will have a little more luck on Newton this year.

[mayhemscout1519]

Also, here's a video of 125 doing their thing from the Boston Regional, Match 73:

http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/match/2010ma_qm73

They suffered in this match, as mentioned above, from only having a few balls in their "cycle" - 3 or 4, I believe. With a strong far zone robot (217 at MSC, for example), 125 could go far!

[Akash Rastogi]

It was so embarrassing when 125 hung in the first match, ready to begin the cycle....and their partners failed to drop even 1 ball in. That was when people got a bad first impression, because of alliance pairings.

[JewishDan18]

From what I can tell, it looks harder to block 125 than it is to block 469. Not seeing which way the ball will go until it is almost out means you'd need a much faster reaction time.

[Brandon Holley]

Akash- Thanks for starting this thread on our behalf. We were quite disappointed to not be selected in Boston. The few matches we had with partners that could consistently score, resulted in fairly dominant victories. We only lost 1 match the whole weekend, and it was a tough pill to swallow not playing in the elims.


As for our robot, all of the responses to questions thus far have been accurate. The main issue we were having in Boston, was for a reason unknown to us at the time, our robot would not elevate itself to its designed point. We were consistently stopping 5-6 inches short of being "fully hung". (Fully hung in a sense that we still got 2 points, but were not at the height we were designed to catch at)

After some investigation, we decided to rip apart our gearbox for the winch we use. It uses a single CIM on approximately a 16:1 ratio. We utilized AndyMarks new 3/8" hex bearings. Unfortunately for us, the two we used in the winch were completely destroyed. We estimated the load on each of these bearings to be approximately 60 pounds near the upper limit, with almost zero shock loading of any kind. Since Boston, we have redesigned our winch gearbox to not utilize these bearings anymore. The result will be a much more efficient hang for us, and a hang at the height our robot was designed to "catch" balls with.

Simultaneously, we've decided to change a couple more features on our robot to make our design more fool proof. The primary one of these is a new "catching" device that makes our redirect MUCH more consistent. The other changes just make our robot more reliable and consistent in several other areas.

We are very excited to be playing on Newton with several other teams who are consistent, reliable scorers. We know we can be an X factor type of robot in Atlanta, and are counting the days til we get to play again!

-Brando


PS- Since the "cat is out of the bag" so to speak, I'll post a few pictures to CD Media of our design, so you can get a better look.

[45Auto]

We had almost the same thing happen to our team at the Bayou Regional. Our robot was designed primarily to be locked to the tower as a looper. We also have a vacuum ball magnet and a 3 stage kicker. At the Bayou we didn't lock our robot to the tower and return a ball because it turned out we were one of the stronger scorers. There was never a shortage of balls in the close zone. We would clear the middle or far zone then move into the close zone and score.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to demonstrate the looper in Atlanta.

[jblay]

I was very surprised when 125 was not selected. Even if they couldn't score the balls off of the return they could at least return the balls into the zone by the end of qualification matches and that is such an advantage in the elimination rounds.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

PS- Since the "cat is out of the bag" so to speak, I'll post a few pictures to CD Media of our design, so you can get a better look.

Haha, sorry Brandon, we really wanted to make sure that what happened in Boston wouldn't happen again. I figured I'd advertise a little

[BrendanB]

Thanks for posting the video. I thought that 125 was just over hyped before Boston and just couldn't come through. Match schedules are very disappointing when you have teams like 125 who need decent robots to help them like in match 73 and just don't get them.

Great to see you will be down in Atlanta and hope you guys play well into Saturday afternoon!

[johnr]

I just realiized something. This thread may not have been that good of an idea. 125 has just recieved a large target. Their matches are going to be the proving ground for many teams looking to impress other teams," We stopped 125. We can help you on Einstein with 469." Good luck guys, you have along couple of days ahead of you. One question not answered yet, can you get down off of tower if loop doesn't start?

[Chris is me]

I'd rather have a target on my back than be invisible to the competition, and after Boston happened, it's clear that you have to make that choice.