Just for the record, how many teams out there are building a spare robot for tweaking, autonomous, and driver training before the competitions start?
Fortunately our team was able to get all of the autonomous mode finished before we shipped. (which involved one very late night of almost falling asleep every 5 min. 
). We don’t have enough funds to build an additional practice bot but we were able to practice before hand.
if anyone did build an extra bot, tell us how much experience their team has
i actually laughed when i read the last option. thats some funny stuff solace.
LOL no offense…but LOL. i think thats a little far… i know they do make a new robot every year and they have pride in thier chassis.
but no, we never have made an extra robot. we always talk about doing it but barely have time to make our first one so it never gets made
We usually make a prototype, and try a few things on there, then we make the final bot, ship that then we go and remake some of the stuff and put iton the prototype and use thatas our practice bot. Last year we had one almost exactly like the final one, but this year I think we’re just building the chassis, not our other functions.
Actually our base for this year came from a summer bot we built two summers ago. We thought it would be good for last year, but when they revealedthe game, it was very apparent it woudl have been useless, however for this year’s comp it was perfect. So we have some practice with our chassis design already, but this one has more power… so whatI’msaying is… umm… I talk too much… someone stop me…
*Originally posted by Nataku *
**LOL no offense…but LOL. i think thats a little far… i know they do make a new robot every year and they have pride in thier chassis.but no, we never have made an extra robot. we always talk about doing it but barely have time to make our first one so it never gets made **
Hey I’m not being mean to RAGE! Actually, they’re our mentor team.
I think they actually do have 6 robots. One is the one they shipped, one’s the backup, and they have four old ones lying around (they haven’t beeen retrofitted though, and i don’t think that all of them are working).
But hey, you have to hand it to 'em - the design does work.
We have 7 bots. One is our current. Two are running (which have both been partially retro-fitted) and 4 have been scrapped for parts and are in the renovation process.
[edit]7, not 6 bots 
i forgot one…[/edit]
We used Blizzard 3 to test the treads for the different grips on the carpet, mesh, and to see whether or not there would be any spin on the ramp when pressure is being applied etc.
Hehe… also used blizzard 3 to experiment with different ideas for arms, pushers, etc… just attaching stuff with tape and seeing how the bins react… and used another robot to simulate a match
Last year (our second year) we made an almost exact duplicate second robot called “shadowbot.” All the fabricated parts, mechanisms, motor mounts, etc. were fabricated during the regular build season so that we could qualify them as spare parts if we needed them at the competition (we didn’t). It was assembled in the two weeks after ship date, almost entirely by the students, with very little engineering mentor support, and a very fine job they did. It was so identical that the only thing different between the two 'bots that I can think of was the air pressure switch was different, and needed slightly different code to control the compressor.
Shadowbot was invaluabe for trainning drivers while waiting the six weeks until our regional. It also did a lot of PR and fundraising duty. We took it to the Lone Star regional, where it was parked next to our pit as a spare parts source. The judges and refs queried us as to when we fabbed the parts and built the 'bot, and were cool with it.
We plan to build a shadowbot of this years design, but I don’t know. There are still some critical, hard to get parts that aren’t here yet, and time is growing short. I doubt that we get to build anything as identical as last years system, but something close is better than nothing.
Oh yeah, it helps to have an adequate budget and happy sponsors.
We have been using last years robot for fundraising presentations, but by now it is so battered that there are literally pieces of it falling off. Since we now have two for this year, we’ll hopefully have at least one still intact by the end of this year’s season.
We just use our EDUbot (Team979)
You can knock down the wall with your edurobot?!?!?
just kidding.
[mindless rant]
I got bored after school waiting for my ride last week so I began contemplating edurobot designs. Give me a two weeks and I might just make an edurobot with a swivel drive. now wouldn’t that be cool?
[/mindless rant]
*Originally posted by Solace *
**Hey I’m not being mean to RAGE! Actually, they’re our mentor team.I think they actually do have 6 robots. One is the one they shipped, one’s the backup, and they have four old ones lying around (they haven’t beeen retrofitted though, and i don’t think that all of them are working).
But hey, you have to hand it to 'em - the design does work. **
We have 8 robots at our “practice facility” at this time. The list: [list=1]]1996 (red base, arm)]1999 (red base, arm)]2000 (red base, arm, basket)]2000 Evil Twin (red base, messed up arm thats no longer attached)]2001 (find some speed controllers and an innovationFIRST controller and this thing will move)]2001 Evil Twin (just an arm, the base mysteriously dissapeared–so it doesn’t count)]2002 (still moves–I will hurt the person that ever breaks it)]2002 Evil Twin (still moves–replaced basket with this year’s “hands”)*]2003 Evil Twin (doesn’t move… yet)[/list=1]Technically, based on what our team leader told me, we have the rest of our robots elsewhere, with the exception of the one entered into the 1995 competition. Since we have painted our base red every year but one, everyone should recognize us at the competitions now–just look for the red base, people!
correction accepted
Actually, through some fluke of the paint shop (they always have their own interpretation of what a color is), our robot at first glance looks extremely similar to RAGE’s bot…
And no, we were NOT intending to steal your glory
You forgot to mention that the other reason our chassis looks exactly like RAGE’s is that it IS their chassis, which they taught us how to build two years ago, with a few alterations, and is therefore one of the few around made of plywood.
The best part of using the old, battered robot for fundraising presentations was watching our coach chase it around the room trying to hold one of the drill motors in gear when it wouldn’t stay.
We will be building a modified second robot… Modified because it always works better than the shipped one. Oh well, we use the re-building skills when we get to the regional to tweak a few things.
*Originally posted by MBurr-Mecum *
**You forgot to mention that the other reason our chassis looks exactly like RAGE’s is that it IS their chassis, which they taught us how to build two years ago, with a few alterations, and is therefore one of the few around made of plywood.The best part of using the old, battered robot for fundraising presentations was watching our coach chase it around the room trying to hold one of the drill motors in gear when it wouldn’t stay. **
not so much this year as in years past though…
We built an extra bot this year for driver training and practice. The 2001 bot makes a good practice bot as well (a little too tall to go under the bar though).
If your counting past years like you did with RAGE, then the AZTECHS have atleast 9. We might have a few more some where:D