Posted by Dan, Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Banner Engineering.
Posted on 2/26/99 10:19 PM MST
What’s the word at regionals about gyros? Does Beatty have a post-game autonomous mode like we predicted? OK, it’s just a little illegal and very impossible . .but let’s hear it. Speak up all yee at regionals. :-Dan
Posted by Jerry Eckert, Engineer on team #140 from Tyngsboro, MA High School and New England Prototype/Brooks Automation.
Posted on 2/26/99 10:46 PM MST
In Reply to: Gyros (NOT the sandwich) posted by Dan on 2/26/99 10:19 PM MST:
: Does Beatty have a post-game autonomous mode like we predicted? OK, it’s just a little illegal and very impossible . .but let’s hear it. Speak up all yee at regionals. :-Dan
If I interpret your question correctly, that is impossible.
At the end of a match power to the transmitter is removed. When the master CPU in the receiver (to which we have no access) ceases to receive data from the transmitter it disables
all outputs. When the outputs are disabled the control program is not able to manipulate any mechanisms on the robot.
- JerryPosted by Dan, Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Banner Engineering.
Posted on 2/26/99 10:56 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Gyros (NOT the sandwich) posted by Jerry Eckert on 2/26/99 10:46 PM MST:
Yes you did interpret it correctly and you gave the same answer my coach did when my insane friend thought it up. But all of that fantasy aside, I’d like to hear what’s being done with the gyros. :-Dan
: If I interpret your question correctly, that is impossible.
: At the end of a match power to the transmitter is removed. When the master CPU in the receiver (to which we have no access) ceases to receive data from the transmitter it disables
: all outputs. When the outputs are disabled the control program is not able to manipulate any mechanisms on the robot.
: - Jerry
Posted by Dodd Stacy, Engineer on team #95, Lebanon Robotics Team, from Lebanon High School and CRREL/CREARE.
Posted on 2/27/99 6:35 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Gyros (NOT the sandwich) posted by Dan on 2/26/99 10:56 PM MST:
There are any number of ways to perform actions like lifting a floppy basket in the 10 second period after the match ends and power is removed from the transmitter. Any approach which uses stored energy, stretched surgical tubing for example, can work. A motor can be jumpered before a match to wind down the lifting arm from its raised position. The same motor with its leads shorted can then act as a brake retarding the rate at which the mechanism unfolds after being unlatched, to honor the spirit of the rule on energy release rate. The latch may be actively released at the last moment of power availability, or some sort of two stage latch trigger that requires power to maintain the latch once armed in the course of the match might be used. This may not be a particularly smart way to do things, but something related could be made to work. We thought about an after-the-buzzer lift, but it was one of many ideas that were set aside under the pressures of time. I’ll be very surprised not to see some teams with delayed lift devices.
Dodd
Posted by Matt Young, Student on team #217, Team Macomb, from MMSTC and Ford.
Posted on 2/28/99 7:43 PM MST
In Reply to: Gyros (NOT the sandwich) posted by Dan on 2/26/99 10:19 PM MST:
It is possible to have an after round lifting device. I know of one team, can’t remember the name but they are sponsored by CDW, they have a floppy lift that uses some sort of gas cylinders that when the trigger is released it goes up without power. They were at the Motorola Chicago regional, if they or anyone that was there sees this post and wishes to add more detail please do, I did not talk with them for very long.
Posted by Brad Pflum, Coach on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Gunn High School and Nasa Ames, Sun Microsystems.
Posted on 2/28/99 11:56 PM MST
In Reply to: Gyros (NOT the sandwich) posted by Dan on 2/26/99 10:19 PM MST:
: What’s the word at regionals about gyros? Does Beatty have a post-game autonomous mode like we predicted? OK, it’s just a little illegal and very impossible . .but let’s hear it. Speak up all yee at regionals. :-Dan
We put a Gyro on our arm. It senses any unintensional movement in the arm and corrects by powering the motors.
The arm also has an aray of limit switchs which are used to recalibrate the gyro every time it passes the sensors.
We also use it to get the arm perfectly vertical regardless of the base’s position (if it were half on the puck, for example, a simpler system would pout the arm perpendicular to the base while our system keeps it perp to the ground) when it’s holding the basket o’ floppies up.
It works great & was all done by a (quite brilliant) sophomore, Ben Herbert.
One problem is that it sometimes overcorrects and due to the slowness and inconsistancies of the control box, the arm sometimes goes into a seisure and occilates uncontrolably. it’s still really neat & i wish i knew enough programing to do that kind of stuff 
-Brad
Senior at Gunn High School
Co-Captain and Coach, Gunn Robotics Team