pic: MOE 365 Presents GizMOE

[The Lucas]

Originally Posted by Tyler Olds

Very nice job Moe, I always look for something unique in your bot.

If this unique feature of blocking the bar is true and it works. I belice you will find you bot winning pretty consistantly.

Thanks. We had a few issues to work out at NJ. We ended up with a 50% winning percentage. We had 4 Wins and 4 "Learnings". It is not a loss if your drivers gain experience and you realize new ways improve your bot. Finding problems and fixing them is what engineering is all about.

About half the matches we ended on our back due to some center of mass issues. Good ole Wobbly the Wonder Bot! (that’s our nickname for the bot ) Finally, we figured out that we can use the "kilts" as outriggers so we don't tip (before we were using the arm to shift weight which created other problems). Those Kilts get more useful every day. They were designed just to block off the upper platform. Then we started pushing small balls around with them. Then we modified them to grab onto goals. Now they are a major part of maintaining balance while climbing.

In our last qualifying match at NJ, we executed our strategy. Early in the match we drove up to the top platform, deployed the Kilts and guarded the platform for the remainder of the match. Unfortunately, no one challenged us, so the Kilts' ramp blocking ability remains untested in competition (Well, I guess they were an effective deterrent ). In the last few seconds we clamped our grippers on the bar (with a very satisfying metal-on-metal “CLANK”) and pulled up our bot with the winch. Guess we will just have to wait for Philly to fully test the Kilts.

We have an animated gif of that match on our website

Also thanks to Rich Wong for great NJ Regional Pics of GizMOE:
Hanging The winch does its job.
Defending the Ramp Ominous isn’t it?
Climbing Love the caption on this one
Falling One of those Learning experiences