We overlooked the necessity of keeping our control board firmly on the control station.
We did the common, “this thing weighs like 30 lbs no way it will go anywhere”
We could not have been more wrong. In a game where teams are trying to autonomously navigate around the field as fast as they can. You are going to run into some problems.
THE STORY:
So the match starts out with our control board in Station 1. So we are looking directly at the other teams robots lined up. Hybrid starts, a team comes out going as fast as they can and slam directly into the wall. This impact causes our 30 lb plus board to go flying in the air spinning. It landed on the joysticks and shattered the one that operates our manipulator. Not only almost hitting our drivers but nearly damaging the competition port on the OI. So half the match we drove around without use of our manipulator. While I looked for a team to lend us their joystick. A team that was in queue Graciously lent one to us. So halfway through the match we gain use of our arm and manipulator again. The team came and apologized but it was something that should have been prevented by us.
SO! Moral of the story is Teams PLEASE place Velcro on the bottom of your control boards. The Velcro located on the stations is the loop/soft end and is 6 inches away from the wall. So you will need to place the Rough end of Velcro on your control boards accordingly.
Yeah. The same thing happened to one of our alliance members in Jersey yesturday during the qualifiers(555). Luckily, they had their joysticks fixed by the next match. But when they said they should velcro your control board down, they really meant it. I hope that by next week all teams participating in regionals will have thier boards secured.
This happened to team 870 three years ago. We thought we would be penalized if we touched the controls and the head ref. said the following…
Drive team members are permitted to touch the control board to prevent damage even during the auton mode. Just don’t operate anything. Push it back up or catch it. When drive begins continue with the game.
We were in que when WildStang had was on the floor during autonomous mode. An opposing robot came full speed and rammed into their operator station… Their control box fell off and hit the ground!
I was kind of amazed they didn’t wait to start the teleoperated period till they got situated again…
If it’s falling off, you better not get a penalty!
This situation is called out in the rules as a no-penalty situation. (If you do get a penalty, find out why after the match…and if it’s for touching your control board, talk to the head ref, if he hasn’t already dealt with it.)
During the practice rounds at GSR I watched the team next to me (I forget who it was) catch both their controls, and the entire computer housing underneath the driver station.
Luckily they were being attentive…otherwise, the entire blue alliance (and possibly the day’s events as a whole) could have had some trouble.
Yes, use Velcro! As Qbranch said: while we were busy watching our own robot during hybrid, an opposing robot slammed right into the front of our driver’s station and our OI suitcase was knocked to the floor. Luckily the competition cable was not screwed in, otherwise our suitcase would be hanging and the OI would have ripped right out. We instantly ran forward to pick it up, I didn’t know if hybrid was over or not but we weren’t really thinking about that. If we had joysticks I know the damage would have been worse.
I have to agree with everything that was said in this thread. I saw quite a few good hits at Portland, including one that knocked down the field electronics box on the red alliance side (it was quickly ziptied into place). So remember, bring 4’-5’ of Velcro to your first competition and don’t let this happen to you!
I know the feeling–this happened to team 81 back in 2006 when I had built that fancy operator console with the laptop inside. A team came speeding along in autonomous and slammed the alliance wall, causing the 30+ pound console to go flying though the air, demolishing the OI and cracking the Lexan on the top of the console. Miracuously, the laptop’s internals were still functional after a little repair work–HPs from the early 2000s are built like tanks!
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe I heard an announcement while I was in the pit at the New Jersey Regional which stated that the drivers are allowed to “catch” their operator controllers in the case of another robot knocking it down during hybrid mode. It does violate rule G47 but at the same time it makes more sense. It would be nice to have an update from FIRST about this matter.
It doesn’t violate G47, it is allowed by the last sentence of G47.
TEAM Positions During HYBRID PERIOD – During the HYBRID PERIOD, the DRIVERS
and COACH must stand behind the PLAYERS LINE within their ALLIANCE ZONE. During
the HYBRID PERIOD, the ROBOCOACH must stay within one of the two designated
ROBOCOACH STATIONS (either local or remote). Each violation (stepping outside the
designated area, or stepping across the PLAYERS LINE) will result in a PENALTY. Exceptions will be made in cases involving personal or OPERATOR CONSOLE safety.
