DEWBOT VI PARC XIII
The Pennsylvania Robot Competition (PARC), graciously hosted by Team 222 (Trigertrons) at Tunkhannock High School, is the oldest off-season FRC Event. Team Sab-BOT-age has participated in the PARC competition every year since the team's founding. PARC XIII was held 8-May-2010.
1640 placed 8th seed out of 19 teams and was selected by Team 2753 (Team Overdrive) for the 3rd Alliance (together with Team 339). We defeated the 6th alliance in two games in the Quarter-Finals, but we were ourselved defeated by the 1st Alliance (Teams 25, 341 & 1989) in the Semi-Finals.
Team Overdrive (2753) also selected Sab-BOT-age (1640) as an alliance partner at PARC XII, where our alliance went on to become Chanpions.
Team 1640 received the Gracious Professionalism Award.
1640 hosted a VEX Demonstration at PARC. Thanks, Jack, for leading this demo!
DEWBOT VI experienced a number of mechanical problems at PARC XIII, even missing a qualifying match (Q6) in the process (ouch!).
Contents
Matches
We managed 3 wins and 3 losses in the qualifying matches, ending 8th of 19 teams.
There were 6 play-off alliances. We were selected by 3rd Alliance Captain 2753 (Overdrive) together with Team 339.
Qualifying Matches
Q1: Win 6-0 with 222 & 303 against 84, 1143 & 316
Q6: Loss 4-7 with 1218 & 341 against 303, 2053 & 222 - 1640 a no-show
Q8: Loss 4-7 with 1143 & 2053 against 222, 433 & 1071
Q11: Win 11-10 with 1218 & 2753 against 2053, 341 & 2753
Q13: Win 9-4 with 25 & 1143 against 2053, 341 & 2753 - 1143 a no-show
Q17: Loss 5-9 with 339 & 84 against 303, 433 & 1218
Play-off Matches
QF1-1: Win 5-4 against Alliance 6 - 1893, 1143 & 316
QF1-2: Win 7-4
SF1-1: Loss 10-12 against Alliance 1 - 25, 341 & 1989
SF1-2: Loss 8-11
Who was there
Students: Paul, Carly, Matt, Jen, Vamshi, Ben R, Douglas, Jack, Corey, Selina, Christine
Mentors: Jon Davis, Mike Rizzo, Siri Maley, John Stumpo, Clem & Faith McKown
- Driver: Carly
- Operators: Jen & Paul
- Human Player: Vamshi
- Coaches: Clem McKown & Siri Maley
- Scouts: Jen, John Stumpo, Christine & Selina
- VEX Demo: Jack & Corey
- Head Referee: Mike Rizzo
Mechanical Problems
- Kicker failure due to absent wire ties (for match Q1, this is a pit process failure)
- Failure of Pivot #3 at the Pivot Tube - Pivot Plate junction during Q1. Not catastophic for match. Pivot replaced with a spare, but we missed qualifying match Q6 as a result and our allies (1218 & 341) lost the match. Will repair the pivot by re-epoxying the joint and replacing the (3) 8-32 set screws with (3) ¼"-20 set screws. This design shange will be applied in the future and will be retrofit to current pivots as time allows.
- Pivot #4 stopped steering again during one match. An old problem without an understood cause. Motor was not hot.
- A Pivot Transfer Axle came out of its mount during QF1-2. Repaired. Pivot #4 is in danger of experiencing the same failure and needs attention.
- Pneumatic leak developed during SF1-1, with consequent loss of the kicker. Repaired.
- A Pivot Transfer Axle Bearing is blown on Pivot 4 and must be replaced.
- Kicker failure due to absent wire ties (for match Q1, this is a pit process failure)
On the other hand, Gary Deaver's tread anchors held up to the abuse of competition.
Post-Mortem
PARC XIII brought back memeories of times gone by - Like PARC XI where we spent every spare minute (and a few which weren't spares) repairing the robot. I personally do not long for those days. The low point of my day was letting down Teams 1218 and 341 during qualifying match 6. These are teams which I would want to have considering us as allies.
We are running a lot of demos and doing a fair bit of driving practice. This is all good, but it does wear out the robot. This won't get any easier.
Our pit process was not followed. We will follow it during future matches. This left us with a non-functional kicker in a couple matches. We should have also jumped on the Transfer Axle problem before it bit us.
We played a great defensive game. We should kick a lot more, though. Need to keep plugging away at the possessor, too.
DEWBOT VI seems to be the only robot without a useful autonomous mode. Probably not really true (there must be others), but Team Overdrive saw this as a tremendous shortcoming of ours (especially given our flyers). It's May. We need to address this.
Driving Practice - without clear objectives, we tend to practice what we do well. We really need to focus more on what we need to do but can't do well (yet). If we're wearing out the robot, it should be for a good purpose.
The Pivot replacement process was a painful one. More holes are needed in the frame for easier access. Add to learnings for next year's design.
Siri Maley as Coach for (3) qualifying matches and all of the play-offs. Well done.
Vamshi was human player throughout the competition and performed this role flawlessly.
Battery management was executed well. We would have (just) had batteries for the finals, had we survived to that point. One more battery (#6), seems to have bitten the dust, leaving us with 6 effectives. We needed them all. We have 4 working battery chargers (and 1 with a broken connector which needs to be repaired). We needed all 4 of the chargers as well (and the 5th one repaired).
PARC XIII Photo Gallery
Faith McKown & John Stumpo
Siri Maley
Carly with the robot
Drive Team - Vamshi, Clem McKown, Jen & Carly
DEWBOT crossing a bump
Scout Christine
Selina & Christine interview Jack
Matt & Paul
Ben R & Jon Davis
Replacing a pivot
DEWBOT ready to play again
Carly & Siri
Siri & Carly placing robot
Drive Team - Paul, Siri Maley, Carly & Vamshi
DEWBOT kicks
1640 v 1218
1640 v 1218
John Stumpo, Jen & Matt
Team 1640 in the stands
DEWBOT passing through the tunnel
John Stumpo & Jen with 1640's Gracious Professionalism Award
1640 facing 341 (Miss Daisy)
Paul settin up controls
Douglas
Carly waiting on the field
1640 v 25
