DEWBOT XI Mid-Atlantic Robotics District Championship

Last final match

Sab-BOT-age continued its outstanding performance at this event. After a rocky start (Intake Arm pneumatics did not work during the first qual match due to disconnected wire), 1640 slowly worked its way up to 2^nd seed. We formed the 2^nd alliance with teams 303 (The Test Team) and 4635 (Ironmen Robotics), finishing the event as Finalists.

During the last Finals match, DEWBOT XI succeeded in placing three capped 6-tote stacks on the scoring platform after burgling two RCs from the step - a new performance record for us.

The team finished the Mid-Atlantic Robotics competition season with 302 district qualifying points and ranked 2^nd (after 225 - TechFire) in a field of 121 teams. We qualified easily for FRC Championships.

Robot Evolution

We brought a pair of RC burglars to the event. These succeeded in burglaring 21 RCs in 11 (unopposed) attempts.

The lift travel was increased by 3" by replacing the 80/20 rails and chains. All new parts were employed, not splices. This change-out was time-consuming. The shorter lift had required us to back the robot up from the human player station to avoid hitting the bottom of the lowest lifted tote with the incoming tote, which put us in a non-optimum position for loading.

The lift reduction gearing was changed from overall 21.25:1 to 12.75:1, providing an unloaded maximum speed increase of 67%. Software controls on the lift minimized jarring associated with this gearing change.

A pair of sonars wit some additional soft ware provided auto-alignment with the human player wall. Auto-alignment controlled angle and distance only; left-right adjustments are manual.

The original battery box was replaced with a significantly lighter, minimalist edition.