Prototyping is important, we know that but we still did not prototype enough. 6.5 weeks to make a robot from scratch is a bit of a strict time frame...

Prototyping with the intention of making it fail in my opinion is even more important. Asking the prototype to handle unexpected situations is even more important. "That will never happen," - until it does, and Murphy rolls in his grave: "If something can go wrong, it will go wrong!"

The result of the season was disappointing. But seeing the students come together, take initiative and build arguably our most complex robot yet (certainly one that could do the most) was heart warming. Lots of lessons were learned, and it was a very fun season!

We had a very simple, self centering "ball" intake that allowed the driver to effectively intake anywhere from the front side of the robot. We needed to go from a wide acquisition zone to a narrow, predictable release point. We did so by centering the ball using mecanum wheels which vector the ball inwards. (They're also used on omni-directional mobility bases in industry) Using a series of sensors, the ball would always sit in the same position in the conveyor, until the driver chose to release it. Additional little bits of automation made the sequence more efficient. For example, when a ball was detected, the intake automatically stopped running, and the intake arms folded in to prevent collision damage.

Little things add up to make processes more efficient. In industry today, everyone is looking for efficiencies to essentially make more money, while spending less money. Being able to optimize this ratio is key for not only to stay competitive at robotic competitions, but also for major players in the industry.

Ideas I brought up like the green light turning on when a "disk" was successful acquired might sound like a purely aesthetic decision. But the reality is, it simplifies a complex decision for the driver into a binary one. (Do I have a "disk" ? If yes, I can drive away, If not, continue to try and acquire) The driver does not have to take time to process whether or not the "disk" is properly acquired by the robot - and immediately upon acquisition, a signal is given that tells the driver they can go. There are valuable seconds saved here that add up in the course of a two minute and fifteen second match.

Here is our first match of the season: (5036 in blue)

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