Robots of Seasons Past

The 2012 season was marked by the game Rebound Rumble. This game required teams to shoot foam basketballs into hoops of three different heights to score points. The first fifteen seconds of the game consisted of robots autonomously shooting basketballs into the hoops for three bonus points per basket. In addition to this, the autonomous period made into a Hybrid period when a human player on each alliance had the option to control the robot using a Microsoft Kinect®. The hoops were surrounded by a basketball key and the field was divided in half by a bump that had three bridges balancing on it. At the end of the game robots could attempt to balance on their alliance bridge or on the special Coopertition™ bridge for bonus game or Coopertition™ points.

We tackled the game offensively. We wanted to be able to shoot baskets from anywhere on the key and do so consistently. We also wanted to be able to maneuver quickly on the field and collect balls efficiently from the floor or by way of a rebound from a missed basket. We also wanted to balance on the bridge and if possible achieve a three-robot balance with our partners.

We achieved many of these goals with our robot, Skunkquille O’Neal. Our collector was able to collect balls on the floor quickly and our hopper was even able to catch a rebound or two during game play. We were able to double-balance consistently and by the end of the season we even achieved a triple-balance.

We competed with Skunkquille O’Neal in three competitions in Portland, Seattle, and Spokane. In Portland and Seattle we came away as finalists in the field competition and also took home the Industrial Design Award for efficient and functional robot design at the Seattle Olympic Regional. At the Spokane Regional we qualified to go to the World Championship in St. Louis with a spectacular win with team 2122, Team Tators, and 4082, Bulldogs, as well as the Chairman’s Award.

We traveled to St. Louis and played through the semi-finals of our division, the best we have ever done at the Championships, with our alliance, teams 1519, Mechanical Mayhem, and 181, Birds of Prey. In our final match we achieved our long sought triple balance.

The 2011 season's game was Logo Motion. The object of this game was to carry inflated tubes, in the shape of components of the FIRST logo, and hang them on pegs at the ends of the game field. In the first 15 second autonomous period, teams could hang yellow "uber-tubes" on the peg rack to score double points when a regular tube was hung over it. In the last 30 seconds of the match, teams had the opportunity to launch minibots that would race up an aluminum pole to score bonus points.

Our strategy in this game was to be able to hang at least one uber-tube in autonomous, be able to pick up tubes off of the ground and hang them as quickly as possible. We could also launch a minibot onto the racing pole and have it climb the pole in roughly two seconds.

Our robot, Skunk.I.Am, was capable of hanging tubes on all three levels of the scoring rack. The end effector, or scoring mechanism on the robot was a pnuematic "popper." Using pnuematics, the end effector could push the tube onto the peg. We also built several types of minibots for the end-game. The final mini-bot could be launched onto the pole, attach with a magnet and drive up the pole with direct drive wheels.

This was a very successful robot. Its unique "popper" mechanism was awarded the Creativity Award at the St. Louis Championships and we won the Engineering Excellence Award in both the Autodesk Oregon Regional and the Cascade Seattle Regional, in additon to the Engineering Inspiration Award in Seattle.

We qualified to go to the St. Louis Championships where we placed first in our division and we were able to pick our alliance which consisted of Team 2363 Triple Helix and Team 1519 Mechanical Mayhem. Unfortunately, we did not progress past the quarter-finals for the division.

Breakaway was the game played in 2010. This was a modified soccer game in which teams would shoot soccerballs into goals. Balls were returned to the field by way of a ramp that released the balls into the middle section of the field. Robots had to traverse two 12 inch high bumps to cross the field. In the middle of each of these bumps were towers. In the last 30 seconds of the match, robots could try to hang from these towers to score bonus points.

Our goal for Breakaway was to be a powerful scoring robot. We were able to score balls in the goals quickly and easily. We could also deflect returning balls into our alliance zone. The robot could also hang, but not consistantly, and that was not a major part of our strategy. We would instead use the end game time to continue scoring.

The robot, named Pele Le Pew, was built for scoring. It had a spinning pipe wrapped in rubber that could trap the ball and center it in front of the kicking mechanism. The kicker itself was pnuematic powered. It could kick accurately and quickly. The wedged top of the robot had a net strung across it to deflect balls, as they rolled off of the ball return, into our scoring zone. We used a mecanum drive base to move the robot. This drive base was useful while driving on the bumps and lining up to score. The mecanum drive arrangement allowed the robot to move from side to side without changing orientation. The robot had two arms that it could hang with, but they were not used very often.

We were able to achieve a rank of 12 out of 64 teams at the Microsoft Seattle Regional, where we also won the Regional Chairman's Award allowing us to go to the Atlanta Championships.

 

Lunacy was designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United States of America landing on the moon. This game was played on a field made of a plastic material called "regolith" as it mimicked the lunar surface in terms of friction. Because the moon has 1/6th the gravity of Earth, it is difficult to move as one would on Earth. Robots had to maneuver the gamefield on this "regolith" material while driving with slick plastic wheels This made it difficult to maneuver accurately. Teams also had to shoot woven plastic balls, or moon rocks, into trailers that were towed by the opposing alliance. Robots could also collect special "empty cells" that could be scored like a normal moon rock, or could be traded in at a special "fueling station" for a "super cell", which was worth 15 points in the last 20 seconds of the game.

Our strategy involved scoring quickly and accurately. The robot could maneuver relatively easily with a swerve drive and line up and aim into an opponent's trailer easily.

Our robot, the Stench, collected moon rocks with a conveyor system made of plastic tubing. Balls could be collected off of the floor and sucked directly into the conveyor system. Balls could be launched out of the robot with a seperately controlled conveyor at the top of the robot. The robot could maneuver well with a half-swerve drive. Each wheel in this drive system could turn independently, allowing the robot to move without having to change its orientation.

We were Regional Champions at the Autodesk Oregon Regional with Team 1318, IRS and Team 2635, The Lake Monsters, allowing us to qualify for the World Championships. At the Microsoft Seattle Regional we also won the Motorola Quality Award. We ended up ranked 12th out of 87 teams in our division in Atlanta.

 

The game for 2008 was Overdrive. This game was played on a field divided in half lengthwise with a fence that separated the field into Red and Blue alliance zones. An overpass divided the field widthwise that also marked the "finish lines" for the alliances. Teams could place 40 inch diameter "trackballs" on top of this overpass. In the 15 second Hybrid period, teams could score points by knocking their alliance's trackballs off of the overpass, completing laps around the track, and passing trackballs over the overpass. In the teleoperated mode, robots could continue scoring in the same way. At the end of the game, however, if an alliance's trackball was placed on top of the overpass, the alliance would recieve an extra 12 points.

Our robot was designed to be able to carry a trackball and pass it above the overpass and drive around the track. The robot could raise the ball high enough to toss it over the overpass, or place it on top of the overpass. It could also drive quickly around the track to score extra points.

This robot, Das Überstinktier, had a ladder-based lift mechanism that could also tilt backwards when carrying a trackball so as not to damage anything. Trackballs were held with large carbon-fiber claws that could wrap around it. The drive base had two powered traction wheels in the front and two unpowered omni-wheels in the back. This drive configuration was not the best as it did result in fishtailing when driving around corners.

With this robot we were Regional Champions at the Microsoft Seattle Regional with Team 2046,Tahoma Robotics Club and Team 949, The Atom Smashers. We also won the Engineering Inspiration Award, double-qualifying us to attend the World Championships. At the Championships in Atlanta we ranked 5th out of 90 teams in our division.