Posted by Anton Abaya at 1/6/2001 10:04 PM EST
Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and NASA, Mathsoft, Solidworks.
hey all…
last year we made a mini-arena that was 1/8th the size of the playing arena. It was such a success that we wanted to do it again.
now, for the balls last year, we found that ping pong balls tend to be almost 1/8th their size and worked out great for our mini-arena. Anybody have any ideas for the big balls? I wonder if tennis balls would work…hmmm… did i just answer my question?
eh…go build a mini-arena. it’s cheaper to build and you can make 10 of them for 1/8th the price of a real arena :).
-anton
Posted by Tony K at 1/6/2001 10:12 PM EST
Student on team #292, PantherTech, from Western HS and DaimlerChrysler.
In Reply to: mini-field help…
Posted by Anton Abaya on 1/6/2001 10:04 PM EST:
Hmm… but would you have to make an additional mini-robot to play in it? That could be expensive, considering all the mini-motors and mini-control systems you’d need. In other words, what would be the purpose of an arena that you can’t practice in?
Am I missing something?
-Tony K.
: hey all…
: last year we made a mini-arena that was 1/8th the size of the playing arena. It was such a success that we wanted to do it again.
: now, for the balls last year, we found that ping pong balls tend to be almost 1/8th their size and worked out great for our mini-arena. Anybody have any ideas for the big balls? I wonder if tennis balls would work…hmmm… did i just answer my question?
: eh…go build a mini-arena. it’s cheaper to build and you can make 10 of them for 1/8th the price of a real arena :).
: -anton
Posted by Adam Krajewski at 1/7/2001 12:07 AM EST
Engineer on team #221, MI Roboworks, from Michigan Tech and Houghton Area Schools and Meritor Automotive.
In Reply to: Re: mini-field help…
Posted by Tony K on 1/6/2001 10:12 PM EST:
I think the point of a mini-playing field has to do with strategy, brainstorming, designing, etc. I know I like to be able to see the actual playing field when trying to design a robot or deciding on what I want it to do.
Ping-pong or golf balls would work. Tennis balls for a bit larger field seems resonable. Foam Nerf balls for an even bigger field.
Adam
Posted by william swanson at 1/7/2001 9:33 AM EST
Coach on team #353, p. o. b. bots, from mattlin middle school.
In Reply to: Re: mini-field help…
Posted by Tony K on 1/6/2001 10:12 PM EST:
We also constructed a mini-field and built wooden mini robots so that we could work out strategies on it. we used blocks of wood with co2 dragster wheels as this was the materials we had available. We made different size robots so we could strategize with different combinations of allies. This worked well and it paid off.
Posted by Nate Smith at 1/7/2001 12:00 PM EST
Other on team #66, GM Powertrain/Willow Run HS, from Eastern Michigan University and GM Powertrain.
In Reply to: Re: mini-field help…
Posted by Tony K on 1/6/2001 10:12 PM EST:
: Hmm… but would you have to make an additional mini-robot to play in it? That could be expensive, considering all the mini-motors and mini-control systems you’d need. In other words, what would be the purpose of an arena that you can’t practice in?
Innovation First had a mini control system on display at kickoff…if you go to their web page, you can get it from there…or at least information on it, I dunno if they’re selling them yet…
Nate
Posted by Lora Knepper at 1/7/2001 6:46 PM EST
Other on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / Boston College High School and Seeking Sponsorship.
In Reply to: Re: mini-field help…
Posted by Tony K on 1/6/2001 10:12 PM EST:
: Hmm… but would you have to make an additional mini-robot to play in it? That could be expensive, considering all the mini-motors and mini-control systems you’d need. In other words, what would be the purpose of an arena that you can’t practice in?
Hey guys, the mini-field is what we use to brainstorm our robot design on. It helps put something solid to ideas for very little time, effort, space, and money. (the latter 2 of which we are very lacking). We do not make functional robots to run on it, just foam-board designs and the like. For the real robot, we will try to make a goal and the ramp life size at some point for testing, but that’s still up in the air…
~ Lora T419
Posted by Jessica Boucher at 1/7/2001 11:47 AM EST
Student on team #237, Sie-H2O-Bots, from Watertown High School and Eastern Awning Systems & The Siemon Company.
In Reply to: mini-field help…
Posted by Anton Abaya on 1/6/2001 10:04 PM EST:
Hey Anton!
When I first saw this field, I thought “Oh my goodness, how am I ever going to explain this tomorrow to non-First-ers at our annual Kickoff Dinner”?
Thankfully, one of our volunteers was hard at work at our mini-field out of balsa wood. After I calmed down from being estatic, he told me to find a way to represent the balls.
We also used ping pong balls, and we’re using tennis balls for the larger ones. For our versions of the goals, we had to put a bit of wood on top (to attach balsa wood to) with a hole in the center 1 3/4" (or so my people tell me, I didnt drill the holes, and the guy who did kinda estimated), and thankfully the ping-pong balls worked and the tennis balls fit just like the big balls. So thats what we’re using.
And anyway, its not going to hurt if its not exact, at least for our team, we only use it for promos.
-Jessica B, #237