Difference between revisions of "DEWBOT VI Finger Lakes Regional"

Revision as of 19:20, 7 March 2010

Downingtown Area Robotics Team 1640 participated in the Finger Lakes Regional at Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) on March 4-6, 2010.

[Official Web Page for the event]

This was not such a great performance for us. We finished the competition ranked 37 of 44, winning only 2 matches, losing 7, and getting a tie (zero-zero) in 1. We found several control bugs that we're addressing, though we ran into very few major mechanical problems.

Improvement Plans

Mechanical

• To do for Drexel - We need to readdress the possessor. On-field performance and pit research demonstrated a major correlation high-scoring robots and effective possessors--usually those with high linear (i.e. small diameter roller) and angular velocity . This is possible, but will need some work.
• Fixed on-site - The right front steering chain was loose (we knew this), causing steering problems. This chain needed be tensioned - Clem & Siri made a quick stop at Home Depot to pick up a PVC end cap and installed this as a chain tensioner before our first competition Friday morning. The fix was effective and shows very little wear. It ought to last through Drexel, though we'll bring spares and plan to make a permanent nylon fixture for the post-season.
• The latex tubing wears out occasionally. The pit checks routinely for signs of wear and replaces the tubing before any failure occures. The 4-pass through tubes were replaced Friday morning before our first competition. The 1=pass back tube was replaced during the day Saturday...
• ...but late on Saturday all (5) latex tube passes failed simultaniously (or nearly so). Analysis of the sheared tube ends show apparent shock damage. Observation of the kicker cycle shows that cocking starts before a kick is completed. Review of the code confirms that the delay between firing the kicker and recocking is zero. We believe that the damage was caused by a code change which eliminated the delay between kicking and re-cocking (can we confirm this with older code?). The high-energy collision between kicker and cocking arms severely shock the entire kicker/cocking system. The tubing has been replaced, but there is concern this abuse may have caused other yet-to-be-observed damage.
• Fixed on-site - We seem to occasionally bend the side-guard eye-bolts, probably from incorrect placement on the cart. They still worked and are easy enough to replace, but we should be careful. We replaced the bent eye-bolts.
• To do for Drexel/temporary fix on-site - The battery mount broke late in the qualification matches on Saturday. This did not impact the robot's performance during the match and a solid field repair was made using Aluminum angle before we needed to queue for the next match. Failure originated at an unradiused inside corner (a stress concentrator). We will re-form two (one spare) replacement mounts for Drexel with radiused corners (to avoid stress concentrators) and slightly looser fit.
• Possibly to do for Drexel - There's some driver concern about bungees as side-guard material. We may experiment with this for Drexel, though not to the determent of going over the bump. We only had to "ball infiltration" penalties at FLR, one early on from human miscalculation, and one later due to lack of robot control.

Programming

Field Team

What worked

• We were the first robot passing inspection
• Pivot drive operated well in Crab Mode after the chain tensioner was installed and control lag reduced except for during "happy dance" incidents
• We go through the tunnel
• We go over the bump
• We don't tip over (thus far)
• Breakdowns were limited.

Match and Standing Results

Match 4 - Rough start, we left 0 to 9 getting a "ball infiltration" penalty for allow a soccer ball more than 3" into our frame
Match 7 - 0 to 0 tie, partially for penalties on both sides -- this happen to a lot of people
Match 21 - Won 2 to 1 with 610 and 3015, beating 217, 3181, and 316
Match 26 - Lost 3 to 8
Match 31 - Lost in a painful 1 to 2
Match 41 - We lost communication to the robot early in teleop, but our 217 and 1591 pulled out a 9 to 0 victory
Match 49 - Lost in a painful 2 to 3
Match 54 - Killed 0 to 3
Match 62 - Lost with a close 1 to 2
Match 69 - Lost 1 to 3

Seeding Score: 51.00 (highest was 118.00)
Coopertition Bonus: 6.00 (highest 52.00)
Hanging Bonus: unsurprisingly, 0.00 (highest 22.00)
See Seeding Points Description for Details

We scored twice, both times by herding balls into the goal. We kicked a number of times (autonomously and teleop), but did not score by kicking.

Crew

Julie Bachman - Mentor - Wed Late

Clem McKown - Mentor - Thurs PM - Driving Clem, Siri

Faith McKown - Mentor - Wed - Driving Faith, Ben W. Dhananjay, Matt, Micheal

David Moyer - Mentor - Thursday - Driving David,

Mike Rizzo - Mentor - Wed late - Driving - Mike, Julie, Jennifer, Beth

Elizabeth Murphy - Mentor - Wed late

Siri Maley - Mentor - Thurs PM

Foster Schucker - Mentor Wed - Driving parts boxes

Rita Wall - Mentor - Wed. leaving Fri.- Driving - Rita, Andrew, Sasha, Nicole

Moyer Family dropping off Wed. - Carly, Paul, Doug, Cole, Amanda, Brianna, Ben W.

Carly M

Amanda F

Brianna E

Jenifer S

Sasha W (leave Fri. nite)

Nicole W (leave Fri. nite)

Paul K

Matt K

Cole R

Douglas M

Ben W

Michael B

Andrew W (leave Fri. nite)

Ben R

Dhananjay

Finger Lakes Regional Photo Gallery

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