Chief Delphi
This is a discussion forum used to discuss the FIRST Robotics Competition.
Updated: 2 hours 26 min ago
Championship Videos
does anyone know if there are videos of this year Championship anywhere except the blue alliance? We were on Galileo this year, and we wanted to see videos of our matches.
Mabuchi Motor Mounting
Hello CD!
We were finishing our new ball control today and I mounted it by putting a rather large bolt through the motor. Now, I know what you're thinking (:eek:), but it was the only wait I could do it.
The new motor replaces the old FisherPrice and I'm not sure whether it's the bolt or something else causing the motor to stall. It turns freely by hand, but skips at a regular interval.
Any advice?
We were finishing our new ball control today and I mounted it by putting a rather large bolt through the motor. Now, I know what you're thinking (:eek:), but it was the only wait I could do it.
The new motor replaces the old FisherPrice and I'm not sure whether it's the bolt or something else causing the motor to stall. It turns freely by hand, but skips at a regular interval.
Any advice?
Preparing CS students for the Robotics Revolution
The most recent Communications of the ACM has an interesting opinion article entitled "Preparing Computer Science Students for the Robotics Revolution" that mentions FIRST:
Quote: High school robotics contests such as US FIRST ... emphasize the mechanical engineering aspects of the field at the expense of computer science ... The public doesn't always appreciate that the elaborate hardware platforms students construct must be primarily teleoperated because students aren't being taught the kind of software that would allow their robots to act autonomously. This is a bit unfair. It's definitely true of FRC, but FLL is a different story.
The article goes on to talk about what's missing: Quote: Real robotics involves deep, computationally demanding algorithms. Machine vision, probabilistic localization and navigation, kinematics calculations, grasp and path planning, multi-robot coordination, and human-robot interaction (face tracking, speech and gesture recognition) are core technologies. Today these are found mainly in advanced research labs and graduate-level robotics courses, but they can be made accessible to undergraduates. The time to do that is now. How can we as mentors, teams, and the FIRST community as a whole better encourage our high school students to explore these areas? I'm seeing progress on this just in the last couple of years in FRC: much more powerful robot processor, provided vision code, games more friendly to vision (2010 much more than 2009, although even in 2010 we didn't see very much vision-based autonomous), even discussions on CD regarding fully autonomous robots. MatLab Simulink availability could help with the physical/kinematics modeling. Tweaks in future game designs could also help encourage student programmer involvement, excitement, and innovation in autonomy (e.g. higher autonomous bonuses? longer autonomous periods? aspects of the game which are hard to fully teleoperate?). What other things would help stimulate and maintain interest in the CS portion of robotics within FIRST beyond FLL?
Link to article for reference purposes (unfortunately $ required to read): http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/8...ution/abstract
Quote: High school robotics contests such as US FIRST ... emphasize the mechanical engineering aspects of the field at the expense of computer science ... The public doesn't always appreciate that the elaborate hardware platforms students construct must be primarily teleoperated because students aren't being taught the kind of software that would allow their robots to act autonomously. This is a bit unfair. It's definitely true of FRC, but FLL is a different story.
The article goes on to talk about what's missing: Quote: Real robotics involves deep, computationally demanding algorithms. Machine vision, probabilistic localization and navigation, kinematics calculations, grasp and path planning, multi-robot coordination, and human-robot interaction (face tracking, speech and gesture recognition) are core technologies. Today these are found mainly in advanced research labs and graduate-level robotics courses, but they can be made accessible to undergraduates. The time to do that is now. How can we as mentors, teams, and the FIRST community as a whole better encourage our high school students to explore these areas? I'm seeing progress on this just in the last couple of years in FRC: much more powerful robot processor, provided vision code, games more friendly to vision (2010 much more than 2009, although even in 2010 we didn't see very much vision-based autonomous), even discussions on CD regarding fully autonomous robots. MatLab Simulink availability could help with the physical/kinematics modeling. Tweaks in future game designs could also help encourage student programmer involvement, excitement, and innovation in autonomy (e.g. higher autonomous bonuses? longer autonomous periods? aspects of the game which are hard to fully teleoperate?). What other things would help stimulate and maintain interest in the CS portion of robotics within FIRST beyond FLL?
Link to article for reference purposes (unfortunately $ required to read): http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/8...ution/abstract
Drop-center drivetrains: Why?
So, this may sound extremely n00bish of me, but I can't seem to see the advantage of a drop-center 6 (or 8) wheel drivetrain over other types.
I understand the point of dropping the center wheel: to reduce friction by making the robot rock so that two wheels are off of the ground. But I can't see why you wouldn't you just have a 4-wheel drivetrain, only 4 wheels are going to actually be touching the ground anyway.
We went with a 6 wheel drive this year, but we lowered the friction by putting omniwheels on the corners of the robot.
Is there some secret purpose that you could enlighten me of?
I understand the point of dropping the center wheel: to reduce friction by making the robot rock so that two wheels are off of the ground. But I can't see why you wouldn't you just have a 4-wheel drivetrain, only 4 wheels are going to actually be touching the ground anyway.
We went with a 6 wheel drive this year, but we lowered the friction by putting omniwheels on the corners of the robot.
Is there some secret purpose that you could enlighten me of?
Your IRI phots are ready for your viewing pleasure
All the pictures I took at IRI are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamthr...7624487274773/
Enjoy
Enjoy
Jaguar/Victor ESC Short Protection?
Do the Jaguar and Victor speed controls have any protection (besides the fuses) against motor stalls or shorts, or will they output current regardless?
Tank Drive Example Program
Can somebody post a tank drive example program please.
The Top Ten
What is best set of 10 team in the history FIRST.
That means teams numbered 1 to 10 in sets of ten. So it could be 101 to 110 or 1001 to 1010 or 2001 to 2010 for example. It's a set of teams within ten numbers of one another by 10 (no starting the count in the middle like 25 to 35 or something like that). Note: that does that mean there will be ten team in the count.
So which ten do you think is the best?
That means teams numbered 1 to 10 in sets of ten. So it could be 101 to 110 or 1001 to 1010 or 2001 to 2010 for example. It's a set of teams within ten numbers of one another by 10 (no starting the count in the middle like 25 to 35 or something like that). Note: that does that mean there will be ten team in the count.
So which ten do you think is the best?
[FF]: Season Long Waiver Discussion
It's time for some planning ahead...
For those competing in the Season Long Fantasy FIRST league, there has been a discussion of modifying the procedure for picking up a newly added team from first-come-first-serve to a waiver system. With clearance from Ed to try it out, there are still a few questions to answer. I'll give my answer; anybody who has another answer, speak up.
(For an explanation of how this works, see this post.)
1) Which teams are subject to the waiver process?
--My thought is, if the team is in the pool of available teams at the end of a draft (or, more likely, an hour after the draft), they should not be included in the waiver process unless they are picked and dropped. All teams added to the pool, even by being dropped, after the draft ends would be subject to waivers.
2) How long should a new team be on waivers?
--I think I speak for both Kevin (Vikesrock) and myself when I say that we're thinking no more than a day or two from the point where the team's presence is known.
3) What about the waiver priority list? What criteria should be used to order that?
--The higher you are on the priority list, the quicker you can pick up a team. What we're thinking is use the most current scoring (AKA last year's until we get scores), in reverse order, with people who don't have a score in random order at the top of the list. I'm personally thinking that number of missing teams should also factor in, moving people who are missing teams higher on the list.
4) How to manage the list/claims?
--I'm thinking a separate thread to maintain the list and for claims to be posted.
5) Should players post teams that they will drop?
As this is a new idea for the league, input is welcomed. If you have a different question, bring it up and let the discussion begin.
For those competing in the Season Long Fantasy FIRST league, there has been a discussion of modifying the procedure for picking up a newly added team from first-come-first-serve to a waiver system. With clearance from Ed to try it out, there are still a few questions to answer. I'll give my answer; anybody who has another answer, speak up.
(For an explanation of how this works, see this post.)
1) Which teams are subject to the waiver process?
--My thought is, if the team is in the pool of available teams at the end of a draft (or, more likely, an hour after the draft), they should not be included in the waiver process unless they are picked and dropped. All teams added to the pool, even by being dropped, after the draft ends would be subject to waivers.
2) How long should a new team be on waivers?
--I think I speak for both Kevin (Vikesrock) and myself when I say that we're thinking no more than a day or two from the point where the team's presence is known.
3) What about the waiver priority list? What criteria should be used to order that?
--The higher you are on the priority list, the quicker you can pick up a team. What we're thinking is use the most current scoring (AKA last year's until we get scores), in reverse order, with people who don't have a score in random order at the top of the list. I'm personally thinking that number of missing teams should also factor in, moving people who are missing teams higher on the list.
4) How to manage the list/claims?
--I'm thinking a separate thread to maintain the list and for claims to be posted.
5) Should players post teams that they will drop?
As this is a new idea for the league, input is welcomed. If you have a different question, bring it up and let the discussion begin.
How to make backwards forward?
Hello, I am new to programming and on my robot we have 4 wheels. The only problem is that the front wheels are backwards so when we try and go forward with all 4 wheels, the front wheels go backwards while the back wheels go forward. How would we make the robot's front wheels go backwards while the back wheels go forward and vice versa. Here is what our code looks like. Sorry about the format.
#include
"WPILib.h"
/**
* This is a demo program showing the use of the RobotBase class.
* The SimpleRobot class is the base of a robot application that will automatically call your
* Autonomous and OperatorControl methods at the right time as controlled by the switches on
* the driver station or the field controls.
*/
class
RobotDemo : public SimpleRobot
{
RobotDrive myRobot; // robot drive system
Joystick stick; // only joystick
public
:
RobotDemo(
void):
myRobot(1, 2, 3, 4), // these must be initialized in the same order
stick(1) // as they are declared above.
{
GetWatchdog().SetExpiration(0.1);
}
/**
* Drive left & right motors for 2 seconds then stop
*/
void Autonomous(void)
{
GetWatchdog().SetEnabled(false);
myRobot.Drive(0.5, 0.0); // drive forwards half speed
Wait(2.0); // for 2 seconds
myRobot.Drive(0.0, 0.0); // stop robot
}
/**
* Runs the motors with arcade steering.
*/
void OperatorControl(void)
{
GetWatchdog().SetEnabled(true);
while (IsOperatorControl())
{
GetWatchdog().Feed();
myRobot.ArcadeDrive(stick); // drive with arcade style (use right stick)
Wait(0.005); // wait for a motor update time
}
}
};
START_ROBOT_CLASS(RobotDemo);
#include
"WPILib.h"
/**
* This is a demo program showing the use of the RobotBase class.
* The SimpleRobot class is the base of a robot application that will automatically call your
* Autonomous and OperatorControl methods at the right time as controlled by the switches on
* the driver station or the field controls.
*/
class
RobotDemo : public SimpleRobot
{
RobotDrive myRobot; // robot drive system
Joystick stick; // only joystick
public
:
RobotDemo(
void):
myRobot(1, 2, 3, 4), // these must be initialized in the same order
stick(1) // as they are declared above.
{
GetWatchdog().SetExpiration(0.1);
}
/**
* Drive left & right motors for 2 seconds then stop
*/
void Autonomous(void)
{
GetWatchdog().SetEnabled(false);
myRobot.Drive(0.5, 0.0); // drive forwards half speed
Wait(2.0); // for 2 seconds
myRobot.Drive(0.0, 0.0); // stop robot
}
/**
* Runs the motors with arcade steering.
*/
void OperatorControl(void)
{
GetWatchdog().SetEnabled(true);
while (IsOperatorControl())
{
GetWatchdog().Feed();
myRobot.ArcadeDrive(stick); // drive with arcade style (use right stick)
Wait(0.005); // wait for a motor update time
}
}
};
START_ROBOT_CLASS(RobotDemo);
**FIRST EMAIL**/Bill Miller on Facebook/Jr.FLL Opens/TIMS Update
Greetings Teams:
He tweets, he blogs, and now you can become a fan of the Bill Miller, Director of FRC, on Facebook! Next time you log in, be sure to search for "Bill Miller FRC Team" and become a fan!
Registration for the 2010 Body Forward Season of Jr.FLL opens on Monday, August 2nd at 12 noon EST. For more information about Jr.FLL registration, please visit: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/....aspx?id=17656
TIMS Update: The 2011 team profile section updates in TIMS are nearly complete. In the next couple weeks, we will be able to give you a firm date for when you may log in to your TIMS account and input your 2011 information. Thank you for your patience!
Go Teams!
He tweets, he blogs, and now you can become a fan of the Bill Miller, Director of FRC, on Facebook! Next time you log in, be sure to search for "Bill Miller FRC Team" and become a fan!
Registration for the 2010 Body Forward Season of Jr.FLL opens on Monday, August 2nd at 12 noon EST. For more information about Jr.FLL registration, please visit: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/....aspx?id=17656
TIMS Update: The 2011 team profile section updates in TIMS are nearly complete. In the next couple weeks, we will be able to give you a firm date for when you may log in to your TIMS account and input your 2011 information. Thank you for your patience!
Go Teams!
Guess That Image! - Round 1
Guess That Image!
Round 1
Current Image (200x200)__________________________________________________
How to play:Use the commands listed below to slowly reveal and attempt to guess the picture in the original post. The first user to correctly guess the image wins the round and gets a point.
Commands: (More to come, maybe) Code: \pos x,y Reveals a 10x10 area at coordinates x,y
\guess "answer" Submits answer as a guess Use these in your reply to the post.
Notes:The mask color is white. In some cases it may not seem like anything is revealed because the underlying color is white. Keep this in mind.
Also, you may have to hit F5 to refresh the image.
Scores:
Code: -
Round 1
Current Image (200x200)__________________________________________________
How to play:Use the commands listed below to slowly reveal and attempt to guess the picture in the original post. The first user to correctly guess the image wins the round and gets a point.
Commands: (More to come, maybe) Code: \pos x,y Reveals a 10x10 area at coordinates x,y
\guess "answer" Submits answer as a guess Use these in your reply to the post.
Notes:The mask color is white. In some cases it may not seem like anything is revealed because the underlying color is white. Keep this in mind.
Also, you may have to hit F5 to refresh the image.
Scores:
Code: -
Core Values
Does your team have "Core Values"?
Are they written down somewhere, manual, painted on the wall, or website? Are they taught anecdotely?
Do you think it is important to write them down?
If I asked anyone on your team would they know them?
Would they know them as "Core Values"?
How well do they align with FIRST core values?
Feel free to list them if you care to share.
Mid-year reviews on goals, a friends post on another site, and a book I am re-reading have me thinking about "Core Values".
Are they written down somewhere, manual, painted on the wall, or website? Are they taught anecdotely?
Do you think it is important to write them down?
If I asked anyone on your team would they know them?
Would they know them as "Core Values"?
How well do they align with FIRST core values?
Feel free to list them if you care to share.
Mid-year reviews on goals, a friends post on another site, and a book I am re-reading have me thinking about "Core Values".
Playlists for Events
There's been some talk going around about a thread to discuss which songs to play at competitions. (This started in reference to IRI, but need not be limited there.) Thought I'd take the initiative. Obviously this is subjective, but what do you think? Some aspects that have come up:
1) To play or not to play - the traditional "canon" of regionals, like YMCA, Cotton-Eye Joe, etc.
2) Repeats - how many is ok (and for what length of competition)?
3) How much thought really needs to go into this?
4) Any good resources/websites? e.g. grooveshark.com, etc.
5) Just in general, what do you want to hear? (why?)
1) To play or not to play - the traditional "canon" of regionals, like YMCA, Cotton-Eye Joe, etc.
2) Repeats - how many is ok (and for what length of competition)?
3) How much thought really needs to go into this?
4) Any good resources/websites? e.g. grooveshark.com, etc.
5) Just in general, what do you want to hear? (why?)
Kickoff Soundtrack
Does anyone know what the music in the 2008 kickoff video (seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRlIn-tMxpU the part that I want starts at 0:55) is called? I want to use it for our sponsorship video this year.
Failed to connect to target Error
Hey we are using windriver and after we set up the environment the robot failed to connect to the crio. We have reimaged the crio for windriver correctly with the correct driverstation update. We are just not sure what went wrong.
Attached Files Doc1.doc (46.0 KB)
Attached Files Doc1.doc (46.0 KB)
Any interest in raw FRC data?
Hey everyone,
After doing some browsing around here I came across some interest (ie, this post) in having the raw FRC data available for other use.
I currently have a large database of, well, pretty much everything at my disposal, consisting of everything we could scrounge off of the FIRST website. It includes specific info on each of the 1800-some teams, 52 events, and over 4000 matches that occurred in the 2010 season and statistics to go along with it (OPR/DPR, etc), and I'd be happy to generate a data dump of any parts people are interested in.
So I need to know a couple of things: is there any interest in this, and if so, what format would be most convenient?
Hope this can help someone out!
After doing some browsing around here I came across some interest (ie, this post) in having the raw FRC data available for other use.
I currently have a large database of, well, pretty much everything at my disposal, consisting of everything we could scrounge off of the FIRST website. It includes specific info on each of the 1800-some teams, 52 events, and over 4000 matches that occurred in the 2010 season and statistics to go along with it (OPR/DPR, etc), and I'd be happy to generate a data dump of any parts people are interested in.
So I need to know a couple of things: is there any interest in this, and if so, what format would be most convenient?
Hope this can help someone out!
Overdrive/Lunacy 5th Gear
Hello Chief Delphi!
I am looking to download the Overdrive/Lunacy 5th Gear simulator, however on thinktank they only have the newest version (2.1) that just has Breakaway!
Does anyone have access to a copy?
Thanks in advance
I am looking to download the Overdrive/Lunacy 5th Gear simulator, however on thinktank they only have the newest version (2.1) that just has Breakaway!
Does anyone have access to a copy?
Thanks in advance
Runtime Error
Hey I have a runtime error when I try to run a program.
CAN Nerf Robot
For those of you who were not at IRI here is a link to a video of the Nerf Robot. The control system is CAN based and uses the 2CAN along with our new CANipede RCM(robotic control module) which will be released this fall.
http://www.crosstheroadelectronics.com
http://www.crosstheroadelectronics.com
