DEWBOT XI 3-Tote Autonomous
Autonomous Strategies
When we reviewed the game rules, we were immediately set 3-tote autonomous as a goal, but it was going to be difficult. We also thought that alliances would succeed in scoring robot, Tote & RC sets during many of not most matches. We were very wrong in this regard.
In a highly competitive match, two autonomous strategies make sense:
- Fast Can (RC) Burglaring. A robot should secure two RCs from the step during the first second or so of autonomous. In a highly competitive match, it should be assumed that all step RC will be controlled by one alliance or the other during the first second (or so) of the match.
- 3-Tote Autonomous. This is the only autonomous routine which will score points (and significant points at that) during autonomous without reliance on alliance partners
An ideal alliance in a competitive match would comprise two robots having fast double RC Burglars and one robot with reliable 3-Tote Autonomous.
Development
Like the RC Burglars, 3-Tote Autonomous was identified at the outset as a high-priority objective. But this was a tough challenge to achieve.
So the tough part of this are the two RCs between the three yellow totes. They are in the way. The team's initial approaches towards this challenge relied on software and sensors exclusively (without any dedicated mechanical devices) to either maneuver around or push away the RCs. Reluctance to add an additional mechanical device was driven by robot weight concerns prior to completing (and weighing in) the RC Burglars. These initial attempts failed for a combination of reasons:
- They were too slow and did not complete the routine in 15 s.
- The maneuvers were too complex to be reliably repeatable
With completion of the RC Burglars, we found we had a very small amount of available weight for a mechanical device to assist with 3-tote autonomous.