Something Is Being Overlooked People

[WaterClaw]

After seeing so many threads on shooting mechanisms, I think we're not paying enough attention to the real problem of how to ACQUIRE these two foot balls. Though shooting these things seems really cool, how are you going to get the points for assisting if you can't retrieve the ball in the first place? I think we're forgetting the point, which is getting the robots to work with each other and pass the balls from one to the next.

With this in mind, does anyone have any good ideas for PICKING THESE MAMMOTHS UP? Granted ideas will be out there, however I feel that's what the focus should really be on.

[Link07]

Just because you don't see threads about it on CD doesn't mean teams aren't focusing on it.

[WaterClaw]

Originally Posted by Link07

Just because you don't see threads about it on CD doesn't mean teams aren't focusing on it.

Granted. However I still think people should be sharing ideas on pickup systems seeing as they will be more alliance oriented than whether or not you can lob one of these suckers. I feel it would be more valuable to learn what we can use to work WITH other robots as a pose to against. Passing is working with. Admiring firing systems to try and work out how you might block them is against.

[Sparkyshires]

Our team agreed completely, however we realized that you can't design your intake unless you know what type of shooter, so that was our reasoning as to prototype shooters first.

[AllenGregoryIV]

We've posted several on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcDMokRtLjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srN0vM0xNFo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5jkzTCaFFw

[WaterClaw]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

We've posted several on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcDMokRtLjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srN0vM0xNFo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5jkzTCaFFw

Thanks!

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

We've posted several on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5jkzTCaFFw

You may be on to something with this last link. It can handle all levels of squish!

At first, my personal favorite pickup from Ri3D/BB was JVN's due to overall robustness, quality & versatility (really like the side rollers). After my team did our own prototyping, O-Ryan's became my favorite for quite a few reasons.

The one my team is designing is quite compact, has built-in redundancy, and has built-in dual-purposing. We prototyped a couple of critical dimensions on Saturday and I've been off to the races in CAD since then. Luckily we have leftover COTS parts from last year so the only thing we're really waiting on is the right gearing & the Banebot wheels. We aren't releasing a video of it because ... well, to be honest the final product isn't built.

[bduddy]

The real thing people are missing is the opposite of what you're saying. It is as follows: You don't need to acquire the ball to assist!!! All you need to do is impel, i.e. push, the ball. Too many teams will miss out on easy points because they don't realize this...

[Pault]

Originally Posted by bduddy

The real thing people are missing is the opposite of what you're saying. It is as follows: You don't need to acquire the ball to assist!!! All you need to do is impel, i.e. push, the ball. Too many teams will miss out on easy points because they don't realize this...

I think your underestimating what possession is. I imagine this is going to be one of those things that is judged based on the spirit of the rule, rather than a strictly literal interpretation, because it is nearly impossible to agree on one. And what I see is that the intent of this rule is that for a robot to count as possessing a ball, it must do something in order to advance the ball towards the goal. I don't think that refs are going to count randomly pushing the ball for a second as an assist. If I was a ref, I would say that each robot must make some attempt to bring the ball closer to the goal before it can count as an assist; if the robot does not seem to be contributing to their alliance, they aren't really assisting.

I would be a lot happier if the GDC could offer a better clarification on what a possession is, that way it isn't based on the interpretation of some random ref that will be different at every competition.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Wait, crap... totally forgot that I needed to build an intake.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Pault

If I was a ref, I would say that each robot must make some attempt to bring the ball closer to the goal before it can count as an assist; if the robot does not seem to be contributing to their alliance, they aren't really assisting.

If I were part of a team losing out on an assist because such an interpretation from a referee, you can be certain one of the students would immediately question it and ask to be shown the rule supporting it.

I would be a lot happier if the GDC could offer a better clarification on what a possession is, that way it isn't based on the interpretation of some random ref that will be different at every competition.

What do you find deficient about the definition in the manual?

[Anupam Goli]

Watching the Build Blitz and the Robot in 3 days kind of mislead me about the difficulty of the intake mechanism. Their intakes seem very simple, but there is a lot of complex geometry and black magic behind improving those mechanisms.

Our shooter prototype has seen the most progress, but our intake prototypes are the ones taking the most time currently, and rightfully so. So much of the game depends on a good intake that can bring the ball in, eject it out, and control it for a pass. Perhaps we are making this harder than it should be...

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Anupam Goli

Watching the Build Blitz and the Robot in 3 days kind of mislead me about the difficulty of the intake mechanism. Their intakes seem very simple, but there is a lot of complex geometry and black magic behind improving those mechanisms.

I promise you, its not that hard... Especially with CAD available, these game pieces are really easy to pick up.

[MrBydlon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8du0...feature=gp-n-y

Here is our intake idea. Not fully formed yet because the arms don't go all the way into the robot yet but you get the idea.

*Ignore the boot. Moving to a catapult today.

[Answer42]

Originally Posted by Anupam Goli

Watching the Build Blitz and the Robot in 3 days kind of mislead me about the difficulty of the intake mechanism. Their intakes seem very simple, but there is a lot of complex geometry and black magic behind improving those mechanisms.

Our shooter prototype has seen the most progress, but our intake prototypes are the ones taking the most time currently, and rightfully so. So much of the game depends on a good intake that can bring the ball in, eject it out, and control it for a pass. Perhaps we are making this harder than it should be...

I think you'll find come competition season that your hard work will be rewarded. Any team that does a direct copy of the robot in three days intakes will be sorely surprised to find out that passing isn't as easy as they thought. I have seen very few intakes so far that will excel at passing the ball to a teamamte. Those who have developed them are wise to keep them a secret.