More like luck.
But the coolest thing I ever seen (on tape) that happend at a FIRST event was due to luck.
Now that would be awesome!! Maybe we will see one of these in Atlanta…
Team 1930 throws tubes (very short distance) at their gripper. The gripper needs the tube in a vertical position, but you can only hand off horizontally (without breaking the plane) so they throw it on.
What would that be?
In a sense that sort of happened to Mount Olive (11) today at the NYC regional. In the semi-final rounds one of their alliance’s human players accidentally capped a ringer directly onto their flag, rendering their gripper useless for the rest of the match due to the double possession rule. Try as they might, they weren’t able to remove the stuck ringer.
Then in the very next match, after having gone a whole match without capping (which was unfortunate because their arm was very impressive), it happened again!! First shot of the game! Talk about bad luck!
Possibly 190 hanging on the bar in 2004 over another team that got tipped over sending 190 rocking back and forth along the bar? That’s my top moment.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3809323685249382641&q=robotics+190
Yeah, 11 had some bad luck today…the ringer issue, and their not counting as ramped in the 2nd semifinal match.
But I have to say…that Gompei clip…could be the coolest thing ever.
Would you like to see an alliance win their match by filling the top row?
Would you like to see an alliance that won their Semis and Finals only by scoring at the Top Row without a ramp?
NO?
Looks like you missed out on Chesapeake Regional 
Imad
Team 537 had talked about this briefly. It would be posible for us but the amount of tries it would take would render it a waste of time.
I felt so bad having to be the one to make that call. Especially since the 30 points were already on the score board. Sorry 11!!
237 - Getting the short end since '04.
Oh man that was prolly the coolest video i have ever seen…
though i can’t find it on video, my favorite would have to be seeing 234 pick up a tetra from the auto loader, spin-around, have the tetra (accidently) fly off their end effect, and miraculously land on a goal. it was incredible.
I have to agree with that one. I believe it was at Boilermaker regional. If i remember right the tetra landed on the 7ft goal. It was SWEET!
Sorry to say but that wasn’t us. That was our partner, we were all inside the white line and we needed the middle tetra capped. Our partner ran out to pick up a tetra, got it, spun around way to fast and it landed on the goal. Everything paused and the crowd went wild, we then started yelling for them to get inside the white line and they did just as the buzzer went off. IT WAS AMAZING!!!
Wow, that was some amazing footage you got there. And to think, it led to us climbing on top of robots today.
Chris
I’d still rather see all three alliance partners 12 inches off the ground…
WHERE ARE THE HOVERCRAFTS!?!
Team 27 caught a ringer off a bounce at detroit!
Here’s a plan, someone should go down to Championship, build a hoverdrive system that lift at least 360 lb.
A centrifugal fan of some sort lifts the bot a considerable amount, and can lift the bot so that it can actually DRIVE at 12" or higher, and at any height below it.
Also, someone get some big beefy propulsion fans on the order of CIMs or SuperCIMs.
For autonomous, the code has to start the hovercraft part, lift the freakin’ bot up to a decent height, let’s say 4" and get it goin’.
The tolerances must be anticipated a lot more than previously and corrected.
As for controlling the d*mn thing, you need to work out the code so you can navigate without friction. It sounds hard, but you can do it. You are going to have to get used to a delayed response for steering.
Another challenge would be stabilizing the hoverbot so that you can pick up ringers off of the ground.
As for a deck shape, I would do a circle. You can probably do the math and see that it has the highest area to perimeter ratio (more area for the length).
Also, be wise when you are selecting the materials. It must be strong enough to support all the mechanisms, as well as resist electrical charge, as well as being able to lift itself off of the ground with the centrifugal fan you select.
Best of all, bumpers so that if the robot gets hit by something, it can still run.
And someone needs to get a team to sucker up, ditch their drive system, and outfit their mechanisms and lifts/ramp and put it onto the hovercraft. And that my friends, will be a hoverbot. If you guys do it, post it on The Blue Alliance or YouTube for our entertainment.
By the way, that has got to be the best gymnastic stunt that I’ve seen. To boot, it was accident. Way to go 237 and 190 for providing us with this entertainment 3 years later!