DEWBOT VI Monty Madness
15-May-2010 at Montgomery High School in Skillman, NJ. This is our third year at Monty Madness (see DEWBOT IV and V's competitions). Check out the event website.
Sab-BOT-age made a strong showing against a very competitive field, finishing 10th seed out of 42 teams.
See Siri Maley's Scouting Database.
We were the first selection of team 365 (MOE), captain of the 6th alliance. Team 2344 (Saunders Droid Fatory) completed our alliance. Alas, we were defeated in the quarterfinals by the 4th alliance (103, 341 and 75).
A tough competition. We played well.
Contents
Matches
Who was there
Students: Paul, Ben R, Carly, Douglas, Jen, Michael, Sasha, Andrew
Mentors: Mike Rizzo, Siri Maley, John Stumpo, Faith & Clem McKown
Parents: Susan & John Weissman, David Wall
- Driver: Carly & Paul
- Operators: Sasha, Paul, Michael & Jen
- Coaches: Clem McKown & Siri Maley
- Human Player: Andrew
- Administrator: Faith McKown
- Pit Captain: Douglas
- Scout: Siri Maley
Problems Encountered
- During the first quarterfinal match, our battery (#1) failed, even though the charger (the newest fast-charger) indicated a full charge. This battery had been used for our first qualifying match (Q3), without problems. I suspect the charger; although the charging cycle and time for this battery appeared normal, the subsequent battery put on this charger failed to charge (the charger did not see it). This battery did charge on an old charger. This failure was not due to battery inattention.
- The drivetrain occassionally went crazy, with wheels going in unpredictable directions and uncoordinated with each other. Occured in a number of matches. Cause unknown. Steering motors were checked immediately afterwards and were not hot. Battery voltage okay.
- The IR sensor does not seem reliable. Monty Madness has bright, low field lights which could be interfereing with the sensor. Sensor also not a useful indicator in teleop mode.
- We wore out the Deaver tread during the 1st quarterfinal (probably an casualty of the battery problem). Did not replace (no time).
- We went to the first quarterfinal match with a loose wheel axle collar. This is on the pit checklist, and apparantly not checked.
- Had to replace the kicker elastics. This caused no problem in competition.
Post-Mortem
Overall, Sab-BOT-age and DEWBOT VI did a great job at Monty Madness. This competition is packed with many superlative FRC teams from the area (being decidedly NJ-centric). When I looked at the list of attending teams, I was decidedly concerned over our prospects.
The battery failure during the 1st quarterfinal occured in spite of careful battery management. The timing of this failure could have hardly been worse. We need to isolate the cause of this failure and correct this.
Likewise, we need to understand and correct the erratic drive-train behavior. This seems to be a new problem (not the old Pivot 4 story).
I would like us to explore replacing the IR sensor with a LED and shielded photodetector on opposite Ball Dam Gussetts. When a ball (or anything) breaks the beam, kick (in autonomous).
Driver controls and driver intuition do not seem to be aligned. I've been informed that I need to buy an X-Box 360 for the driver to solve this problem. Am open to alternative solutions.
The Deaver tread attachment system is great, but we need pre-drilled treads for a fast change (but even this would not have been fast enough).
Monty Madness Photo Gallery
Siri Maley & Douglas drilling mounting holes in new battery box
Douglas installing the new battery box
Andrew & Carly placing the robot for match 3 with Mike Rizzo in background
Setting ball placement for autonomous
Michael, John Stumpo, Ben R & Douglas in stands
DEWBOT autonomous in match 3 (we scored!)
Installing the battery strap...
...this would have been easier before installing the battery box!
Approaching field for match 8
Planning strategy for a difficult match 19
Jen
Carly & Jen - queued for match 19
On station for the next match
Jen & Carly setting the robot
Autonomous action
Siri Maley, Carly, Sasha & Andrew pensively await the final rankings
Mike Rizzo in the red tower
Carly graciously accepts team 365's request
Teams 365, 1640 & 2344 plan strategy for quarterfinals
Douglas, John Stumpo & Ben R in the pit
Jen & screwdriver
Susan & John Weissman
Siri Maley, Carly & Andrew ready to enter field
Carly & Siri Maley carrying robot onto field
Siri Maley & Carly placing the robot
John Stumpo with Screwdriver
Packing up the pit
Jen dancing the Macarena
