Some of us went to Michael C’s house to test out some of the paint. We tried out a couple different shades of yellow to see which color(s) would look best on our soon-to-come robot.

While all this was going on in room 612, Mr. Xie and Mr. G were giving lectures about software design. Mr. Xie went over drive train control. He talked about the differences between PID (proportional-integral-derivative) and Lead Lag control designs. Mr. G explained our current CAN Bus (Controller Area Network) system, and how information flows from the cRio to the 2-CAN, and then to the individual robot motors and parts. He also talked about our Jaguar speed controllers. Next, Mr. G went over some of the important points for newcoming programmers. This includes destroying previous commands, looking at previous years’ code, and learning from experienced programmers.

We didn’t finish all of the item on the agenda, because we ended up drifting to room 612 to get more work done. After a short lunch break, many of us returned to continue working. At the end of the day, the drivetrain was looking better and better. Only a few more tweaks left!

At night, we had, once again, a design meeting. First, Brian showed the team a new tasks system, called “Trac.” This is a system for keeping software projects on track, but we will be using it to keep track of the entire build process. Next, we went over interesting things that were found on Chief Delphi. One was a ball intake system that would give the robot more space to suck up balls (found by Miles). Currently, because of the bumper rules, robots would only have ~12 inches to suck the ball up. However, with this system, the balls in front of the robot would automatically be moved to the intake area by three sets of deployable rollers.

Then, we had a discussion about our robot design. We are still debating whether to have the robot’s shooter point forward or to the side. Pointing it to the side would make it easier to fine-tune when aiming, since we would be using the driving system. On the other hand, if it were pointed forward, we would need to aim by turning in place, which, for us, is not as precise. Also, we looked at good positions, or (as we like to call them) “sweet spots,” that we would like to shoot from. Ideally, we would need more than one zone where we can consistently score from, so opposing teams would have a harder time defending. Mr. Xie also brought up the idea of having a basket/hopper to allow other teams to feed us balls. However, some people had doubts, since other teams would probably not aim for us, and instead aim for the hoop. Also, the robot-to-robot interaction could easily lead to robot damage, whether it is from the fired ball or from a collision.

After the meeting, some of us played around with the bridge to get an idea of its physics and properties. We ended up trying to stay between “balanced” and “unbalanced”. It was fun.

At night, we were again at school. Funny how we seem to love school so much… We had our weekly Active Member’s Meeting (thus, the title of this entry). We talked about purchasing a team flag, the t-shirt and sweater designs, the upcoming spring newsletter, awards, and the trip to New York. More detailed notes can be found here. Interestingly enough, this meeting ended in just 89 minutes. Anyways, we were able to get much done in this short time period. Tomorrow, we will continue working on the robot design during the design meeting.

Shooter: One team took the 2009 robot to test its shooter’s accuracy and power. We also laid it on its back for a vertical test. The ball ended up flying just 38 inches in the air. The distance from the max robot height to the highest rim just happens to be 38 inches as well. If we decide on going for that top hoop, we will need to add some extra power. (Workers: Miles, Michael L, Pradeep, Annie, Eric)

CNC: A second group continued to work on the CNC. Yesterday, we managed to get the machine into the room. Today, we mounted it onto its base. Of course, we used a small crane. Just imagine having a group of students and mentors trying to to lift a 1300 pound device that costs thousands of dollars… (Workers: Michael L, Anurag, Mr. Peake, Mr. G, Mr. Haas, Mrs. Haas, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Lowd)

Barrier: With help from Mr. and Mrs. Haas, some of our students completed the task of making the barrier. Brian, one of our software guys, took our 2010 robot (yes, we reuse our past robots quite a bit) and fixed up the code so we would be able to run tests later. (Workers: Miles, Annie, Pradeep, Mr. Haas, Mrs. Haas, Brian)

De-burring Wheel: Akshat took our de-burring wheel and mounted it on a new black stand. Now, whenever we go to de-burr something, we will be able to admire the shiny new stand.

At night, we had our second Design Meeting. There wasn’t much time between 612 work and the meeting, so some people did not even have the opportunity to go home. Others ran home, grabbed dinner, and headed right back. (I watched Miles as he ate his hamburger. It looked pretty good.) The meeting started off with Ms. Zhang giving a presentation about project management. This focused on how to stay on schedule and finish with a working robot.

Mr. Xie then continued his presentation from Monday. We went over some ideas and design concepts. Originally, we were going to split up into different groups, but we ran out of time. Hopefully, we will be able to do so on Friday!

Some of us were only able to go home for an hour for food, before we had our weekly Active Member’s Meeting. As usual, we went over the administrative tasks that needed to be taken care of. The highlights included talking about awards writing and planning of our upcoming New York City regional. For the complete meeting minutes, please refer here.

In the end, today was just a regular work day. There was not much talk about the robot design. We will leave that for another day.

Today, our Treasurer, Miles Chan, brought the team’s 2006 robot turret with him to school. Thanks to some extra care throughout the years, the motors were still wired and operational. We hooked it onto a power supply to test and see how accurate the shooter is at hitting its target.

Later at night, the team gathered in room 608 for the first design meeting. First, one of our mentors, Mr. Wes Harrison, gave a presentation about approaching the task from a systems standpoint. He split up the design process into nine different systems: Location Detector, Guidance & Control, Payload, Target Locating, Payload Delivery, Power, Software & Controls, Communication, and Command & Guidance.

Next, our mentor Mr. Giandomenico went over some “Street Talk.” He showed us various videos about the new game and field (links enclosed at the end of post). He then went on to encourage us to look around different websites, such as ChiefDelphi and FIRST Forums, to see what other teams have accomplished.

After presenting the numbers that were gathered earlier today, Mr. Xie, another mentor, started on his presentation. He talked about strategies for hybrid, tele-operated, and the finale.

Today ended up to be more of an introduction to the season than an actual design meeting. However, a lot was still accomplished today, and we are now prepared to start formulating solid ideas for the robot!

We’re off to a great start for CalGames today. We packed the robot, headed to Mitty, set everything up and got robot communications with the field to work. Members were able to enjoy an early dinner chatting with Leland members. After dinner, however, there was a long waiting period as the matches were delayed because many robots weren’t connecting to the field. They later announced that all matches today were going to be practice rounds because teams were having robot communications issues. In our match, we were able to hang up 5 tubes and score our minibot. It was the first time the new drive team got some field practice, and we’re expecting even better results tomorrow. Come out to support our team tomorrow!

Tournament Basics

In FIRST, there are two sections in a competition: qualification rounds and elimination rounds. During qualification rounds, teams are randomly selected into different alliances: the blue alliance and the red alliance. These alliances last only one match, so teams will either play with or against nearly every other team throughout the competition. The eight teams with the best record at the end of qualifications become alliance captains. The alliance captains choose teams and stay with those teams for the rest of the competition. During eliminations, there are three rounds of a “best two out of three” format. The alliance that wins all three rounds is the winner of the competition.

Point System

In this year’s game, the goal is to hang as many inner tubes onto the racks as possible to score points. There are four different types of tubes: the red triangle, the white circle, the yellow circle (Ubertube), and the blue square. There are two sets of 3×3 racks for each alliance. Hanging a tube on the top rack gives the alliance three points, the middle two points, and the bottom one point. If an alliance is able to recreate the FIRST Logo (triangle, circle, square) on one row, then the entire row’s point value is doubled. There is also an Ubertube, which will double a single peg’s point value. However, a robot can only attempt to hang this tube during the autonomous portion of the game. Near the end of the game, robots deploy minibots up four separate poles. The first team to reach the top receives 30 points, second receives 20, third 15, and fourth 10. However, during CalGames this year, the point values have been adjusted to 20, 16, 12, and 8.

Game Sections

Each match is split up into three sections: the Autonomous Period, the Teleoperated Period, and the Endgame. In the Autonomous Period (15 seconds), robots attempt to hang yellow Ubertubes onto racks. However, during this time, the human drivers are not allowed to operate the robots. Instead, the robots rely on preset code to hang the tubes. If a robot succeeds, the point value of anything on the peg is doubled. During the Teleoperated Period (2 minutes), the human drivers take control of their robots. During this time, the robots will try to hang as many tubes as they can. The last fifteen seconds of the Teleoperated Period is called the Endgame. Here, teams prepare to deploy minibots, which is designed to climb up a pole as quickly as possible.

Game Animation:

Game Manual:
http://millerxbots.com/FRC/FRC_Game_Manual_2011.pdf

Matches:

Lynbrook Robotics:
Silicon Valley Regional 2011 Qual. Match 94
Just for a feel of the intensity during a match (explicit):
Team 846 Drive Team Sounds 2011

Other Teams:
A very close match. Only a 6 point difference:
2011 FRC Championship Curie Match 2
A very solid game from 148(Robowranglers), 1538(Holy Cows), and 1503(Spartonics):
2011 Newton Match 39
Three tube autonomous:
FRC 233 The Pink Team – 3 Tube Autonomous

Lynbrook Robotics is proud to contribute to the success in the fields of science and technology at Lynbrook High School. We would like to formally congratulate Lynbrook High School for winning this prestigious award.

The following links give more information about this award:

Press Release:
http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2011/09/20/california-school-wins-top-intel-schools-of-distinction-award

Six Schools of Distinction:
http://www.intel.com/about/corporateresponsibility/education/soda/winners.htm

Intel Video: