DEWBOT VI PARC XIII

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The Pennsylvania Robot Competition (PARC), graciously hosted by Team 222 (Trigertrons) at Tunkhannock High School, is the oldest off-season FRC Event. Team Sab-BOT-age has participated in the PARC competition every year since the team's founding. PARC XIII was held 8-May-2010.

1640 placed 8th seed out of 19 teams and was selected by Team 2753 (Team Overdrive) for the 3rd Alliance (together with Team 339 - Kilroy). We defeated the 6th alliance in two games in the Quarter-Finals, but were ourselves defeated by the 1st Alliance (Teams 25 - Raider Robotix, 341 - Miss Daisy & 1989 - Viking) in the Semi-Finals.

Team Overdrive (2753) also selected Sab-BOT-age (1640) as an alliance partner last year at PARC XII, where our alliance went on to become Champions.

Team 1640 received the Gracious Professionalism Award.

1640 hosted a VEX Demonstration at PARC. Thanks, Jack, for leading this demo!

DEWBOT VI experienced a number of mechanical problems at PARC XIII, even missing a qualifying match (Q6) in the process (ouch!).

Matches

We managed 3 wins and 3 losses in the qualifying matches, ending 8th of 19 teams.

There were 6 play-off alliances. We were selected by 3rd Alliance Captain 2753 (Overdrive) together with Team 339 (Kilroy).

Qualifying Matches

Q1: Win 6-0 with 222 (Tigertrons) & 303 (Panther Robotics) against 84 (Chuck), 1143 (Cruzin Comets) & 316 (Lunatecs)
Q6: Loss 4-7 with 1218 (Vulcan Robotics) & 341 against 303, 2053 (Tigertronics) & 222 - 1640 a no-show
Q8: Loss 4-7 with 1143 & 2053 against 222, 433 (Firebirds) & 1071 (MAX)
Q11: Win 11-10 with 1218 & 2753 against 341, 260 (Robovikings) 7 & 145 ((T-Rx) (
Q13: Win 9-4 with 25 (Raider Robotix) & 1143 against 2053, 341 & 2753 - 1143 a no-show
Q17: Loss 5-9 with 339 (Kilroy) & 84 against 303, 433 & 1218

Play-off Matches

QF1-1: Win 5-4 against Alliance 6 - 1893 (High Tech Parrots), 1143 & 316
QF1-2: Win 7-4

SF1-1: Loss 10-12 against Alliance 1 - 25, 341 & 1989 (Viking)
SF1-2: Loss 8-11

Who was there

Students: Paul, Carly, Matt, Jen, Vamshi, Ben R, Douglas, Jack, Corey, Selina, Christine

Mentors: Jon Davis, Mike Rizzo, Siri Maley, John Stumpo, Clem & Faith McKown

Parent: Alex Klufas

Driver: Carly
Operators: Jen & Paul
Human Player: Vamshi
Coaches: Clem McKown & Siri Maley
Scouts: Jen, Vamshi, Ben R, Siri Maley, John Stumpo, Christine & Selina
VEX Demo: Jack & Corey
Head Referee: Mike Rizzo
Pit: Matt, Douglas, Paul, Siri Maley, John Stumpo, Clem McKown, Jon Davis

Mechanical Problems

  • Kicker failure due to absent wire ties (for match Q1, this is a pit process failure)
  • Failure of Pivot #3 at the Pivot Tube - Pivot Plate junction during Q1. Not catastrophic for match. Pivot replaced with a spare, but we missed qualifying match Q6 as a result and our allies (1218 & 341) lost the match. Will repair the pivot by re-epoxying the joint and replacing the (3) 8-32 set screws with (3) ¼"-20 set screws. This design change will be applied in the future and will be retrofit to current pivots as time allows.
  • Pivot #4 stopped steering again during one match. An old problem without an understood cause. Motor was not hot.
  • A Pivot Transfer Axle came out of its mount during QF1-2. Repaired. Pivot #4 is in danger of experiencing the same failure and needs attention.
  • Pneumatic leak developed during SF1-1, with consequent loss of the kicker. Repaired.
  • A Pivot Transfer Axle Bearing is blown on Pivot 4 and must be replaced.

On the other hand, Gary Deaver's tread anchors held up to the abuse of competition.

Post-Mortem

PARC XIII brought back memories of times gone by - Like PARC XI where we spent every spare minute (and a few which weren't spares) repairing the robot (in spite of this, we were the 6th alliance captain and made it to the semi-finals - in abstentia due to mechanical problems). I personally do not long for those days. The low point of my day was letting down Teams 1218 and 341 during qualifying match 6. These are teams which I would want to have considering us as allies.

We are running a lot of demos and doing a fair bit of driving practice. This is all good, but it does wear out the robot. This won't get any easier.

Our pit process was not followed. We will follow it during future matches. This left us with a non-functional kicker in a couple matches. We should have also jumped on the Transfer Axle problem before it bit us.

We played a great defensive game. We should kick a lot more, though. Preventing the opposition from scoring is only half the game. More focus on scoring opportunities is needed (even when we play defense).

On the development side, we need to keep plugging away at the possessor, too.

DEWBOT VI seems to be the only robot without a useful autonomous mode. Probably not really true (there must be others), but Team Overdrive saw this as a tremendous shortcoming of ours (especially given our flyers). It's May. We're a good team with a good robot. We need to address this!

Driving Practice - without clear training objectives, we tend to practice what we do well. We really need to focus more on what we need to do but can't do well (yet). If we're wearing out the robot, it should be for a good purpose.

The Pivot replacement process was a painful one. More openings are needed in the frame to facilitate access (or more small-fingered orphans). Also, we should have a documented pivot change process. The design and documentation of key maintenance processes belong to the Design Subteam. A Pivot change process was designed and documented for the Hypothetical 4-Wheel Pivot Drive-train design, but was not revisited for DEWBOT VI. Add to learnings for next year's design.

Siri Maley was Coach for (3) qualifying matches and all of the play-offs. Well done, Siri.

Vamshi was human player throughout the competition and performed this role flawlessly.

Battery management was executed well. We would have (just) had batteries for the finals, had we survived to that point. One more battery (#6), seems to have bitten the dust, leaving us with 6 effectives. We needed them all. We have 4 working battery chargers (and 1 with a broken connector which needs to be repaired). We needed all 4 of the chargers as well (and the 5th one repaired).

This year's performance would have been a solid one for Sab-BOT-age historically. On the other hand, we were Alliance captains at PARC X and PARC XI, and champions at PARC XII (albeit 2nd choice and not alliance captain). I think it was not up to our potential. We can do better.

PARC XIII Photo Gallery