Continuing the discussion...

FIRST General Forum
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Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 2/24/99 9:09 PM MST

Continuing where Mr B. left off…

I hate broken robots. I think that it is very difficult to design any functioning robot in the time we have to do this yet alone one that can take the chills and spills most of you are talking about.

I KNOW that the audiences will love this kind of stuff. My question is will we have any robots running in the later rounds of the qualifying matches.

What kind of a sport are we playing here if half the teams can’t answer the bell in the later rounds?

I am a big kid and I can take it as well as dish it out, but I am just questioning whether this is the road we want to go down.

One thing for sure, falling, battling, breaking robots are going to make the evening news. Not only are they going to make it for a longer segment, but they are going to get a better build up and a better slot in the 30 minute show.

Maybe this is the way to put FIRST on the map.

We shall see what we shall see.

Joe J.

P.S. Last Friday, when NOTHING on our robot was working (we couldn’t drive over, around or push a floppy, we could lift ourselves or the puck, we couldn’t pick up a floppy, we couldn’t get them above 8 feet if one magically landed on us, we were in trouble…), I was sorry I ever made the “JAWS WILL DROP” statement. I don’t want to jinks us again by making any ALL CAPS predictions, but Chief Delphi 4 should at least be able to do one or two of the tasks that it was designed to do. We shall see…

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Posted by Mike King, Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.

Posted on 2/25/99 8:39 AM MST

In Reply to: Continuing the discussion… posted by Joe Johnson on 2/24/99 9:09 PM MST:

Well, we were one of the more famous robot breakages. (but only for the Rumble people) But breaking our robot had many not so obvoiusly impacts. Many of your teams, just like ours, got out to other schools, (high schools, midddle schools, junior high schools) to drum up intrest, and to show them what were doing. Your impact isn’t quite as great when you stand up there and say something like:

“Well, this is our robot. (points to it) It used to work, but it broke. Any questions? Good, you can watch the video tape to see how it once worked”

A nother thing that really sucked was our statehouse sponsered and event for First, (they even had Woodie show up). It was very depressing to stand there around your table, and explain how your robot worked, with no robot there, especially with your congressman asking the questions.

So broken robots not only remove you from competition, they remove you from many other events.

Another thing, (here we go again)
I think there is a big difference in the tipping that WILL occur this year, then the kind that happened two years ago. You don’t have teams going out with the stratigy of “If we can tip them in the first 30 seconds, we own the game” and having them design that function specificly into thier robot. And that makes a world of difference.

(Mr. B, your’s was different, it was part of another function)

Mike

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Posted by Tom Lish, Other on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and Nypro, Inc…

Posted on 2/25/99 10:40 AM MST

In Reply to: Re: Continuing the discussion… posted by Mike King on 2/25/99 8:39 AM MST:

I hate it when machines break also. Back in 1997 we were in the semifinals in the N.H. regional and we got tippied by Naval undersea warfare. The only chance the had to really beat us was to tip us. But, i remember standing in the human player zone and watching our six weeks worth of work fall to the groud and I hope noone has to go through that like we did. I hope everyone respects others machine. A little pushing and shoveing is alright but to tip is wrong.

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Posted by Andy Grady, Coach on team #42, DWC/Alvirne HS, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.

Posted on 2/25/99 11:29 AM MST

In Reply to: Re: Continuing the discussion… posted by Mike King on 2/25/99 8:39 AM MST:

Hi all,
This year is alot different from the year of Torroid Terror. I think that the goal of this competition is one of positioning. And I don’t think that its gonna be possible to achieve that without some robots falling. Now don’t get me wrong, i saw what happened to TJ at Rumble and I was part of the team that Tom was on when we got tipped during the semi-finals, since then i have always strongly been against tipping mechs. However this game is gonna be a rough one, its a fight to the top of that puck, and you will see robots tumbling and breaking. I think that FIRST knew this when they came up with the competition, and felt that it would make the competition exiting while making it easier. I feel that it will make the competiton exiting and is a good thing. Remember unlike in Torroid Terror, there is no central goal, the only goal on the field, is the robots. Just outa curiosity, how do you people compare the tipping mechs of torroid terror, to the puck tipping mechs of this year? Do they serve the same purpose, or is it all just part of the game?
Good Luck to all,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne

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Posted by Mike King, Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.

Posted on 2/25/99 8:42 AM MST

In Reply to: Continuing the discussion… posted by Joe Johnson on 2/24/99 9:09 PM MST:

Hmm… Posting a reply to YOUR message doens’t allow me to attach an image. But posting a new one, or replying to my reply will.

Also, if you want people to send comments to password@chiefdelphi.com, you really should create the account. I’m getting mail back as undeleviable

… while talking to pop.denveronline.com.:
RCPT To:password@chiefdelphi.com
550 password@chiefdelphi.com… User unknown
550 password@chiefdelphi.com… User unknown

Good luck… I still really love the board setup.

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Posted by Mike King, Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.

Posted on 2/25/99 8:47 AM MST

In Reply to: Bug in the Board? posted by Mike King on 2/25/99 8:42 AM MST:

(EOM) mean End of message, you don’t have to click on me. :slight_smile:

but since your here, I stuck the letters SP in brackets, and it dissapeared… so no HTML can be posted.
Cool, up to 2 links can be added. I like this new board
Later all

Mike

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Posted by Brandon Martus of team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School sponsored by Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 2/25/99 1:01 PM MST

In Reply to: Bug in the Board? posted by Mike King on 2/25/99 8:42 AM MST:

that was because the image/link feature was added after the board was up for an hour.
The new messages should have that feature.

password@chiefdelphi.com hasn’t been created yet, our host is doing that soon (i hope).

Thanks for the comments.

: Hmm… Posting a reply to YOUR message doens’t allow me to attach an image. But posting a new one, or replying to my reply will.

: Also, if you want people to send comments to password@chiefdelphi.com, you really should create the account. I’m getting mail back as undeleviable

: … while talking to pop.denveronline.com.:
: RCPT To:password@chiefdelphi.com
: 550 password@chiefdelphi.com… User unknown
: 550 password@chiefdelphi.com… User unknown

:
: Good luck… I still really love the board setup.

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Posted by Tom Wible, Coach on team #131, chaos, from central high school manchester and osram-sylvania.

Posted on 2/25/99 10:25 AM MST

In Reply to: Continuing the discussion… posted by Joe Johnson on 2/24/99 9:09 PM MST:

I think we are all in the same boat here. Our robot is so complex that we worked twice as fast, and twice as hard as last year, and still will have to replace drill trannys at the regionals because we fried them on the last day of practice. We plan to spend time in the pits helping everyone who wants help fixin thier machine. I think we all will be broken at some point.

Tom Wible
Team 131

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Posted by Wayne Wnuck, Engineer on team #177, Bobcats, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.

Posted on 2/25/99 3:03 PM MST

In Reply to: Continuing the discussion… posted by Joe Johnson on 2/24/99 9:09 PM MST:

I was wondering if we’ll see the familiar slogan on your machine, Joe? I know it would be hypocritical of us to profess such a thing, what with 11 motors, 12 sprockets, and over 3 lbs. of chain. I’m hoping we can keep it all working to reach the elimination matches.

Good luck to you.

WW

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Posted by Kate Leach, Student on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode / RS Machines.

Posted on 2/25/99 8:40 PM MST

In Reply to: Simplify? posted by Wayne Wnuck on 2/25/99 3:03 PM MST:

: with 11 motors, 12 sprockets, and over 3 lbs. of chain.

dude, how’d ya end up with so much stuff?! let’s see, we’ve got 2 drill motors, a seat motor, and 2 pneumatic pumps… that’s it… i’m really liking it…

-KATe-
#166

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