Posted by Quentin Lewis.
Engineer on team #42, P.A.R.T.S - Prececision Alvirne Robotics Technology Systems, from Alvirne, Hudson NH.
Posted on 2/23/2000 7:29 PM MST
I have heard about ‘Limbo’ machines, and ‘Monkey’ machines, but I thought that a great concept might be a ‘shooter’.
That is, a machine that scoops up say 1 or 2 balls, and runs to a predetermined distance from the goal and lofts the balls into the goal. (either one they need point in)
The machine could run down and scatter the balls at first, and then run around picking and shooting…no need to approach the goal…perhaps alot less movement in general.
Anyone build a ‘shooter’?
-Quentin
Posted by S. Krussell.
Coach on team #349, Robahamas, from International Academy and Ford Motor Co…
Posted on 2/24/2000 6:32 AM MST
In Reply to: Anyone have a ‘Shooter’? posted by Quentin Lewis on 2/23/2000 7:29 PM MST:
I’m guessing that there will not be any ‘Shooters’, because there are too many variables:
• the ball bounces right back out of the trough when
you shoot it in
• you can’t know your exact distance from the trough
• your arm would need a giant protractor to gauge the
correct angle
• those pesky balls are seriously ‘out of round’ !
Posted by Lloyd Burns.
Other on team #188, Woburn Robotics, from Woburn Collegiate and Canada 3000, ScotiaBank, Royal Bank Financial.
Posted on 2/24/2000 9:28 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Anyone have a ‘Shooter’? posted by S. Krussell on 2/24/2000 6:32 AM MST:
: • your arm would need a giant protractor to gauge the
: correct angle
In fact, using the pots supplied as rotation sensors, the readings are about one count per degree.
Our elevator sensor measures 0.1 inch (2.5 mm) per count. With those on your dashboard …
Just that darn long field, that makes distance guaging difficult…
Lloyd
Posted by Kevin Sevcik.
Other on team #57, Tigers, from BT Washington and the High School for Engineering Professions and Exxon, Kellog Brown & Root, Powell Electrical.
Posted on 2/24/2000 12:46 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Anyone have a ‘Shooter’? posted by Lloyd Burns on 2/24/2000 9:28 AM MST:
Distance gauging wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, though… imagine a robot that has rollers on the bottom to feed balls directly into the shooter. you just mount the shooter perpindicular to the roller, and then run to the opposite end of the field. run against the other side of the field, and then you know the distance from the goal. so you just run forward, sucking up balls and shooting them out the side into the goal. too bad I didn’t think of this earlier…
Posted by Quentin Lewis.
Engineer on team #42, P.A.R.T.S - Prececision Alvirne Robotics Technology Systems, from Alvirne, Hudson NH.
Posted on 2/24/2000 12:17 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Anyone have a ‘Shooter’? posted by S. Krussell on 2/24/2000 6:32 AM MST:
> • you can’t know your exact distance from the trough
I undersdtand that there was a competition a few years back where one of the finalists was a shooter…this ismy first year, so I never saw it…but it sounded interesting…and I bet the goals are ‘bigger’ this year. (so you can shoot from alot larger area of the field.)
> • your arm would need a giant protractor to gauge the
> correct angle
I was thinking of building sort of a ‘Baseball pitching machine on steroids’…that is two large flywheels that you feed the ball into and it grabs it, squeezes it through and flings it. You could angle the wheels and create any sort of ball spin you wanted…and you could even angle the whole thing to tive you different trajectories. (probably program in only 2 different angles like 5’ and 15’ since unlimitted angles would be hard to deal with in the heat of battle)
NOTE: I think you would have to be able to handle 2 balls at once as you would use the first ball to guage your distance, and then adjust your distance to shoot the second ball should the first one miss.
Posted by Bill Beatty.
Other on team #71, Team Hammond, from Team Hammond.
Posted on 2/25/2000 8:23 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Anyone have a ‘Shooter’? posted by Quentin Lewis on 2/24/2000 12:17 PM MST:
Try and get a tape of the 1994 competition, ‘Tower of Power’. It was won by Procter and Gamble’s ‘Sunny Delight’ which was a very simple machine that shot balls into the goal very accurately. Also, it is a great tape of the competition.
Bill B
Posted by Quentin Lewis.
Engineer on team #42, P.A.R.T.S - Prececision Alvirne Robotics Technology Systems, from Alvirne, Hudson NH.
Posted on 2/25/2000 8:19 PM MST
In Reply to: 1994 Tower Of Power posted by Bill Beatty on 2/25/2000 8:23 AM MST:
> Try and get a tape of the 1994 competition, ‘Tower of Power’.
> It was won by Procter and Gamble’s ‘Sunny Delight’ which was
> a very simple machine that shot balls into the goal very accurately.
> Also, it is a great tape of the competition.
What sort of balls did that competition have? How did they compare to the balls in this competition?
Also, how large was the goal that year? Given what they did, is it harder, easier, or about the same level of difficulty to be a shooter this year?
I am just curious, because I personally think that this would be a great thing to try. (too bad my team did not agree with me 
I will try to get the tape and look for myself…
Thanks,
-Quentin
Posted by Joe Johnson. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 2/26/2000 6:16 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: 1994 Tower Of Power posted by Quentin Lewis on 2/25/2000 8:19 PM MST:
Tower Power used soccer balls.
The goal was smaller.
I think that the variation of the soccer balls was much less than what I have observed in the balls we are using this year.
Joe J.
Posted by Lora Knepper.
Student on team #69, HYPER (Helping Youth Pursue Engineering & Robotics), from Quincy Public Schools and The Gillette Company.
Posted on 2/26/2000 6:38 AM MST
In Reply to: Soccer balls posted by Joe Johnson on 2/26/2000 6:16 AM MST:
When the discusssion of a ‘shooter’ first started, Sunny Delight immediately came to mind. Even though I wasn’t around in FIRST for Tower of Power, I have seen the tapes. As for the soccer balls, if they could make egg shaped soccer balls I’d be mightly surprised.
Lora
Posted by David Kelso. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Coach on team #131, C.H.A.O.S.-, from Central High School and OSRAM SYLVANIA/ Fleet Bank.
Posted on 2/27/2000 5:26 AM MST
In Reply to: Anyone have a ‘Shooter’? posted by Quentin Lewis on 2/23/2000 7:29 PM MST:
The Tower Power contest used a #3 soccer ball I think. It is actually a little smaller than the ball most leagues use for 6 year old players. We still have the balls we got…and they are still round.That was my First contest 7 years ago. Their machine was fantastic. In less than 30 seconds during the practice rounds, they could gather and score all of their balls. They were one of the powerhouse teams back then along with e-systems.