Posted by Thomas A. Frank, Engineer on team #121, The Islanders/Rhode Warrior, from Middletown (RI) High School and Naval Undersea Warfare Center.
Posted on 4/12/99 4:47 PM MST
Hello All;
Having spent hours this weekend fertilizing the lawn, I have to wonder
just how hard it would be to make an R/C spreader, using some power wheels
assemblies and a couple of speed controllers. Maybe add a rate gyro to keep
the thing going in a straight line…that sort of thing.
Now there’s the tie in we need to really get exposure. The robots have to fertilize
a lawn, and the Nationals can be held at Augusta right before the big golf match
there. Or Disney could sponsor both the National and a mojor golf tourney.
Local regionals would be easy (although the competiiton might have to shift
right a month or two).
Thoughts?
TAF
Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 4/12/99 8:19 PM MST
In Reply to: Putting FIRST knowledge to good thought) posted by Thomas A. Frank on 4/12/99 4:47 PM MST:
You are only half serious, but I can promise you that there are some very serious applications of the stuff we are learning from building these robots.
Patent and other concerns keep me from going into it much futher right now, but I can promise you that there will be a new feature on vehicles soon that almost everyone who has seen the our team’s robots for the past few years will recognize.
Once we get this thing into production, we are going to be yelling our heads off that it wouldn’t have happened without the experience our advanced development group gained by working with Pontiac Central to build these silly robots.
I know that not every team works in a field that can apply their FIRST skills so easily (I work the the Electro-Mechanical Development Dept.), but even so, there are a lot of lessons that FIRST teaches those who try to compete. I don’t think that it is stretching the truth to say that when it comes to FIRST, businesses often get as good as they give.
Looking forward to yet another future fruit of FIRST.
Joe J.
Posted by Dan, Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Banner Engineering.
Posted on 4/12/99 8:27 PM MST
In Reply to: Serious uses of FIRST skills… posted by Joe Johnson on 4/12/99 8:19 PM MST:
'but I can promise you that there will be a new feature on vehicles soon that almost everyone who has seen the our team’s robots for the past few years will recognize. ’
Ohhhh I can see it now. Me, parallel parking into a spot only inches longer than my car with GM’s new ‘Crab’: the car that drives forwards,backwards,sideways, and every way in between.
Seriously though, I saw one of these cars made for a movie . . it really was amazing. :-Dan
Posted by Mike McIntyre, Coach on team #47 from Pontiac Central HS.
Posted on 4/13/99 11:52 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: My car can crab . .how bout yours? posted by Dan on 4/12/99 8:27 PM MST:
My car doesn’t even need a parking place: it has an arm that clamps on to any convenient light pole and elevates itself up off of the street. (I hope I’m not giving away the store, Joe!)
Posted by P.J. Baker, Engineer on team #177, Bobcat Robotics, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.
Posted on 4/14/99 6:52 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: My car doesn’t need a parking place… posted by Mike McIntyre on 4/13/99 11:52 PM MST:
Very cool, but what if the light pole bends? 
I can’t wait to see CD4 up close at Epcot.
See ya down there,
P.J.
Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 4/14/99 8:39 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: My car doesn’t need a parking place… posted by P.J. Baker on 4/14/99 6:52 AM MST:
The light pole is allowed to bend, but if the car is more than 2’ off the ground when the officer comes along, you don’t get at ticket 
Joe J.
Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 4/14/99 8:55 PM MST
In Reply to: No ticket unless it breaks! posted by Joe Johnson on 4/14/99 8:39 PM MST:
If you got to this message by clicking on another link, you are probably as confused as I am.
One minute I was I was minding my own business, following a message thread on getting the most food for the coupon, then BAM! I run smack dab into my own message, posted seconds earlier in reply to a totally different message.
Sounds like another e-mail to our CGI guy (Brandon Martus) is in order…
Joe J.
Posted by Frank Toussaint, Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Wheeling and Rolling Meadows and Motorola .
Posted on 4/14/99 9:07 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: My car doesn’t need a parking place… posted by Mike McIntyre on 4/13/99 11:52 PM MST:
Mike has a car with an arm!
I wish my car had such charm!
While my car gets dented
His dent is prevented;
He climbs away from all harm.
Posted by P.J. Baker, Engineer on team #177, Bobcat Robotics, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.
Posted on 4/13/99 8:19 AM MST
In Reply to: Putting FIRST knowledge to good thought) posted by Thomas A. Frank on 4/12/99 4:47 PM MST:
Check out this article (click on link below) on the home of the future. There is mention of a robovacuum and a robolawn mower.
Posted by Jason Leslie, Other on team #157, The Aztechs, from Assabet Valley RTHS and Simplex / EMC / Intel Massachusetts / Ascend .
Posted on 4/13/99 10:58 AM MST
In Reply to: The future is (almost) now posted by P.J. Baker on 4/13/99 8:19 AM MST:
Assabet Valley RTHS team #157 took there robot the Scorpion from the 1996
competition and just for fun put a vacume between its graber and vacumed
the rug for the playing feild at the school.
It was something different and got some laughs from some teachers and
students.
Jay #157
Posted by Andy Grady, Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.
Posted on 4/13/99 11:53 AM MST
In Reply to: Robo-Vac posted by Jason Leslie on 4/13/99 10:58 AM MST:
Does anyone remember a few years ago when the Placebo was a vacuum cleaner? I loved that thing, at one point a friend of mine and I wanted to take the placebo and make it suck so it would vacuum the field while driving it around. Of course we never got around to asking but it was an idea. Mabey we should see if we could get a hold of that thing and see if we could do just that. Just a thought
Cya in Fla
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne HS
Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 4/13/99 7:50 PM MST
In Reply to: Plac-vac posted by Andy Grady on 4/13/99 11:53 AM MST:
My favorite placebo has to be the Hexagon Havoc Hovercraft.
You had to see it to believe it.
Vacuum clean placeboes not withstanding, it beat the competition hands down.
Joe J.
Posted by Mike Kulibaba, Student on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional and Johnson and Johnson.
Posted on 4/13/99 9:27 PM MST
In Reply to: my favorite placebo posted by Joe Johnson on 4/13/99 7:50 PM MST:
: My favorite placebo has to be the Hexagon Havoc Hovercraft.
: You had to see it to believe it.
: Vacuum clean placeboes not withstanding, it beat the competition hands down.
I agree 100%, the hoovercraft was the best Placebo I’ve seen in my 4 years that I have been involved first competition. I cheered for it everytime it came out. It was one of my favorite robots!!
Kuli Team 88 TJ²
Posted by Andy Grady, Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.
Posted on 4/14/99 9:04 AM MST
In Reply to: my favorite placebo posted by Joe Johnson on 4/13/99 7:50 PM MST:
I did like the placebo at hexagon havoc, with one exeption. I was a human player that year, and that year you had to sit down when you were a human player. I have vivid memories of the air from the back of the placebo blowing under the mask i had on and into my eyes while the placebo was right in front of me. Id didn’t really effect the way I played, but it was a little bit of an annoyance. I move that FIRST bring back the Placebo next year, whether it be the hovercraft or vacuum, because it is just so darn cool!!!
Cya in Florida
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne HS
Posted by Eric Rasmussen, Engineer on team #-1.5 from FIRST.
Posted on 4/14/99 7:39 AM MST
In Reply to: Plac-vac posted by Andy Grady on 4/13/99 11:53 AM MST:
: Does anyone remember a few years ago when the Placebo was a vacuum cleaner? I loved that thing, at one point a friend of mine and I wanted to take the placebo and make it suck so it would vacuum the field while driving it around. Of course we never got around to asking but it was an idea. Mabey we should see if we could get a hold of that thing and see if we could do just that. Just a thought
: Cya in Fla
: Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne HS
As a matter of fact, we still have that placebo. It’s on display in FIRST Place. However, all the vacuum guts were removed to house the control box, battery, and RNet.
One particularly funny moment with that placebo happened after hours when we were repainting the playing field. A woman who was a member of the custodial staff at the college hosting the event saw it driving around and told us she would love to have something like that. We even let her drive it for a few minutes.
-Eric