Difference between revisions of "DEWBOT VI Bridgewater Battle"
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==Problems Encountered== | ==Problems Encountered== | ||
:* During Q13, we lost the steering chain for wheel 3. Cause was due to the driven steering sprocket, which had slipped downwards until the chain face contacted the robot frame (wear on frame is evident). This contact removed the master link locking clip and ultimately, the chain failed when the master link came out. Since we were up again in Q15, we ended up playing two matches with wheel 3 spinning uncontrollably. Good pit organization allowed us to replace the chain (old one reused) before Q18. | :* During Q13, we lost the steering chain for wheel 3. Cause was due to the driven steering sprocket, which had slipped downwards until the chain face contacted the robot frame (wear on frame is evident). This contact removed the master link locking clip and ultimately, the chain failed when the master link came out. Since we were up again in Q15, we ended up playing two matches with wheel 3 spinning uncontrollably. Good pit organization allowed us to replace the chain (old one reused) before Q18. | ||
| − | :* During Q7, the encoder connector for wheel 4 became disconnected when going over the bump. This also makes the wheel spin endlessly. During SF 2-2, a particularly violent impact from 75 (which left us in the goal) caused both wheels 2 & 3 (left side) encoder connectors to disconnect. Carly wire-tied the encoder connectors following this incident. | + | :* During Q7, the encoder connector for wheel 4 became disconnected when going over the bump. This also makes the wheel spin endlessly. During SF 2-2, a particularly violent impact from 75 (which left us in the goal - see photo) caused both wheels 2 & 3 (left side) encoder connectors to disconnect. Carly wire-tied the encoder connectors following this incident. |
:* The removal of the Steering Motor [[Nisso-Denko (Window) Motor Locking Pins | Locking Pins]] did not resolve the problem with intermittant steering lock-up. | :* The removal of the Steering Motor [[Nisso-Denko (Window) Motor Locking Pins | Locking Pins]] did not resolve the problem with intermittant steering lock-up. | ||
:* During Q7, we were unable to arm the kicker. | :* During Q7, we were unable to arm the kicker. | ||
Revision as of 16:12, 30 May 2010
DEWBOT VI participated in the 2nd Bridgewater Raritan Battle Royale (BR)2 at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Bridgewater, NJ on 29-May-2010. Team 1640 received the competition's Engineering Excellence Award for DEWBOT's unique, multi-mode pivot drive-train and the mirror mounted to find balls hidden behind the bumps. 1640 placed 12th out of 21 teams in the qualifying matches and was selected by the 2nd Alliance (2753 Overdrive & 1279 Cold Fusion). We were eliminated in the semifinals.
Check out the event website here.
There was also a large VEX event held concurrently at this location playing Round Up, the new 2010-2011 game.
Contents
Matches
Qualifying Matches
Play-off Matches
Who was there
Students: Paul, Ben R, Carly, Matt, Douglas, Jen, Andrew, Kenneth
Mentors: Mike Rizzo, Heather McKown, John Stumpo, Faith & Clem McKown
Parents: Alex Klufas
- Drivers: Carly & Paul
- Operators: Paul & Jen
- Coach: Clem McKown
- Human Player: Andrew
- Administrator: Faith McKown
- Pit Captain: Douglas
- Pit Mentors: John Stumpo & Heather McKown
- Scouts: Ben R.,Ken & Carly
What was new
The (BR)2 Organizers spiced up the competition with the following changes:
- An additional ball is added in each zone for each alliance at the start of the game (4 in far-field; 3 in mid-field; and 2 near-field). So, there are 6 additional balls in play (18 rather than 12).
- Balls scored during autonomous period are worth 2 points each.
- In the final 20 seconds, two orange bonus balls are put into play, one in each end zone. Scoring the bonus ball earns two points.
- Hanging bonus
DEWBOT VI also sported some new features:
- Most visibly, a 12" high x 24" wide aluminized polycarbonate mirror was mounted on the top front of the robot, tilted forward at an angle of about 12°. This mirror enables the driver to see balls hiding behind bumps while the robot "strafes" sideways behind the bump. The mirror is hinged and held up with an elastic spring, allowing tunnel passage. The mirror may be set either up or down at the start of a match.
- Autonomous changes. Because of the increased scoring opportunity in autonomous (both more balls & double points), we modified the autonomous sequence as follows:
- No wheel calibration at the start of autonomous. Wheels need to be calibrated & pre-set by teather before the match.
- The 3-position switch is used to se the wheel angles to: 1) straight ahead; 2) 22° CW; or 3) 50° CW. The angles are selected for scoring using the middle column of ball positions from either the mid-field or near-field, respectively. By targeting the middle column ball positions, we avoid interfering with alliance partner autonomous scoring.
- The kicker was pre-armed before the match.
- Steering Motor Locking Pins were removed on the hypothesis that these were the cause of intermittant steering lock-up.
In addition, Paul was qualified as a DEWBOT VI driver and drove the robot during four of the qualifying matches.
Problems Encountered
- During Q13, we lost the steering chain for wheel 3. Cause was due to the driven steering sprocket, which had slipped downwards until the chain face contacted the robot frame (wear on frame is evident). This contact removed the master link locking clip and ultimately, the chain failed when the master link came out. Since we were up again in Q15, we ended up playing two matches with wheel 3 spinning uncontrollably. Good pit organization allowed us to replace the chain (old one reused) before Q18.
- During Q7, the encoder connector for wheel 4 became disconnected when going over the bump. This also makes the wheel spin endlessly. During SF 2-2, a particularly violent impact from 75 (which left us in the goal - see photo) caused both wheels 2 & 3 (left side) encoder connectors to disconnect. Carly wire-tied the encoder connectors following this incident.
- The removal of the Steering Motor Locking Pins did not resolve the problem with intermittant steering lock-up.
- During Q7, we were unable to arm the kicker.
- During Q23, our kicking was weak and unreliable. We had replaced kicker elastics prior to this match.
- We score zero autonomous points. Problem was with the kicking. Initially, with the possessor on, we did not kick until we had already over-ridden the ball, at which point kicking is ineffective (kicker fires, but ball remains trapped under the robot - the kicker then continues to try to arm & fire). Later, with the possessor turned off, we generally failed to kick at all. We managed one effective kick (first of the day - it went out of the field). Once, we managed a weak (poorly-timed) kick, which just managed to knock the other balls lined in front of us out of the way.
- Autonomous wheel angles seem to be off. Need to recheck geometry and test.
Post-Mortem
Bridgewater Raritan Battle Royale Photo Gallery
Jen & Andrew installing the mirror stops
Jen, Douglas & Andrew installing mirror
DEWBOT VI's mirror
John Stumpo in pit
Paul in pit
Paul, Clem McKown, Andrew & Jen queued for match Q4
Carly, Kenneth & Ben R scouting from the stands
Drive team for Q7, Jen Carly, Andrew & Clem McKown, waiting through autonomous
John Stumpo, Heather McKown, Jen & Ben R in the stands
Andrew handling the trident
a ball on the trident
and the ball is on the return rails
Mike Rizzo...
...or is that Michael Rizzo?
reinstalling the lost steering chain
the chain gang at work
replacing the kicker elastics...
...is not as easy as it looks
robot in autonomous with mirror uo
leaving the field after a match
75 playing a tough defense - we didn't put ourselves in the goal
scoring anyway
view of the pit
Queuing up for the next match
Engineering Excellence Award
Jen
Team (Jen & Mike Rizzo missing - Clem McKown taking the picture)
