January 7, 2017
2017 FRC Season Starts Today
Season Kickoff is today at 9:30CT
Watch live here:https://www.thebluealliance.com/gameday#layout=0&view_0=kickoff-0&chat=firstinspires
Videos of the game challenge will be posted here after the kickoff
https://www.youtube.com/user/FRCTeamsGlobal
We start strategy and design at Noon
We will be at the school at noon to start strategy and design for the game. Stop by if you want to see how we are going.2017 Events - Save the Dates
- Dallas Scrimmage - Feb 17-18th
- Hub City Regional (Lubbock) - Mar 1st-5th
- Lone Star Central (Strake Jesuit Gyms) - Mar 15-18th
- Alamo Regional (San Antonio) - Apr 5th - 9th
- FIRST Championship Houston (GRB Convention Center) - Apr 19th-22nd
check_in
We will be a part of a new live web show every Tuesday for the first 7 weeks of the season starting Jan 10th. More information can be found here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htAU8MUISzY&list=PLIY-TB1MAu-VrnWc9phrhpoSsH2L-Qagt
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Blog = Blog.spectrum3847.org
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January 7, 2017
Dialing Back the Server Turbine
Backstory
We recently outfitted room 3103C (our side room/kitchen/overflow) with the rolling A/V rack we use for events, and a 2U dual-Xeon server for storage and possibly for rendering some new content for the season. To supplement this computer setup we added a shelf to the room that doubles as a desk and storage for assorted A/V supplies (projector screens, tripods, speakers, etc.).
The Problem
While both computers were running without a hitch and the shelves had decidedly not fallen while in use, there was one small problem: the sheer size and quality (not PWM or static pressure optimized) of fans used to cool the components produced a sound comparable to a small turbine, making any communication with persons outside of the room near impossible and generally being a nuisance.
Of the five total fans present in the case: three were an easy solution. The two 80x38mm fans used to cool the CPUs and the one directed over the RAM and PCIe slots were replaced with specimens of approximately one-half the thickness. This, however, turned out to be only part of the problem, as the 40mm fan in the PSU, which turned out to be two fans back-to-back, continued to produce a significant roar.
Some initial investigation revealed a few important details about these fans:
- It would be difficult, if not impossible to separate them from each other without permanently damaging their housings.
- The PSU would shut down if one or both fans were forcible stopped, and would not start if one were wholly unplugged.
These made it impossible to simply remove or unplug one fan. So a slightly more roundabout solution was conceived. Amidst much debate over whether or not the PSU's controller was also smart enough to kill power if it sensed the fan spinning but not being powered, we opted to test this fact, arriving at the conclusion that no, the controller did not care if there was power to the fan header or not so long as the signal pin told it the fan was moving.
The Solution
With this newfound insight into the inner machinations of our PSU's controller, we stripped off a length of insulation from one fan header's wire and spliced on a jumper cable from a hobby electronics kit. The female head on the cable had to be taken down to size a little bit, but it managed to hold itself together with a little help from some electrician's tape and didn't short anything out when we turned it on. The PSU, having been tricked into thinking both fans were running, turned on and functioned properly, and with a significantly less tumultuous sound to boot.
January 8, 2017Day 1: STEAMworks has arrived
After months of anticipation the 2017 FRC game is finally here. Check out the video below.
Today we accomplished the most important task of the season. We read and understood the game manual. This is a critical task for anyone involved with FRC. If you haven't sat down and one this please do it, you will have a far better understanding of your next 4 weeks.
Things we noticed
- Bumpers are part of your robot volume. This is critical that all teams know this rule. Read G04 and R03 very carefully. Bumpers are not however part of your frame perimeter. You do have to start in frame perimeter but you don't have to stay that way. So extending over your bumpers is totally cool as long you don't break the total volume.
- Bumpers can be touching the ground this year. We assume this is show the balls aren't traveling under teams bumpers but just know your bumpers will be getting nice and low this year.
- The field is asymmetric when you are Red the boiler is on your right, when you are blue the boiler is on your left. This changes everything for your auton modes and for your driver practice.
- You have to a score on the goals nearest your alliance station. This means you are shooting at the goals while your robot is practically facing your drivers. It will be much harder to align this way since you can't just use an aiming light and aim front across the field. Camera streams back to the driver station and vision processing will be much more important.
- There are big points available in auton. If you can get to a hopper and load your robot, it's possible for your to score 60+ kPa just in autonomous mode. This is enough for your to get the ranking point for building enough pressure. A simple gear hang in Autonomous is gives your alliance 20 more points then the same action if performed by the drivers in teleop.
- Speaking of Auton at the highest level of game play this game could be amazing. With only 5 hoppers on the field and 6 robots, if everyone wants to try to autonomously get a nice large load of 50+ fuel at least two teams will be racing towards the center hopper to see who can get away with the most fuel balls. Autonomous interaction in the neutral could become a very interesting part of the game at higher levels of play.
- The gears are a game of diminishing returns. Your first gear is 40 points, then 2 gears is 40 points, then 4 gear, and then finally it takes 6 gears. It pays to do a few gears a match but very quickly the rewards stop paying out if you aren't going to be able to get all 4 rotors spinning. You might want to focus on ball scores after the first few gears. Also the first one is freebie right after auto ends so it's really your first 2 gears scored that have the highest payoff. This gets a lot more complicated in the playoffs.
- There are two different games being played in Qualifications and Playoffs. In Qualifications it's far easier to score 40 kPa and get your additional ranking point then it is to secure 12 gears in the air ship. In the playoffs if you work with your alliance securing 12 gears is far more valuable to the end score then the 40kPa pressure goal you will covet in the qualification rounds.
- Event Finals no longer can end in a Tie. Any finals tie will be replayed up to three times before going to tie breakers.
- The 2nd sort for rankings after Ranking points is cumulative match points. This has been auton points in the past and a few other things but this year you want to score as many points as you can in every match to break the tie with anyone who has the same ranking points.
Rest of the Season
We are planning to still post nightly updates like we have in the past but they may be shorter except for our Tuesday night updates where we will combine a lot of our progress from the previous week, videos, tests, etc.
check_in
Also be sure to check to check us out on the new RSN show check_in every Tuesday at 6 PM CT.
This is the Year
Fantastic Chiefdelphi post from 2005 but still rings true today.
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/t/this-is-the-year/66688
- Spectrum
"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." - George Edward Woodberry
January 8, 2017Day 2: Full STEAM ahead
Robot Design is Beginning
We started brainstorming designs and working through solutions to our strategy goals. A bunch of sketches were done today for various parts of our robot design. There is a ton of things to in this game and it's going to be a lot of fun. We moved a few of prototypes into 3D as well but they are still a work in progress. We should be getting our first shooter and drive train models finished up over the next couple days.
Completed Loading Station
We had a group of students working on field construction today and finished this awesome loading station. We also have started the team version of the Lift and a mock version of the real lift as well. If you are going for the gears you may want to try building a moving version of the lift. We think building a version of the lift that is able to be activated will be a big help to teams and it's not a very complicated part.
Tip of the Day:
The loading stations are going to be asymetrical for wide robots. Keep this in mind especially when loading gears into your robot.
- Spectrum
“Random Results are the Result of Random Procedures” Geoffe Portes
January 10, 2017Day 3: Rethinking our intial plans
We started the day by going back over the strategy notes from Saturday and seeing what assumptions we made that may not actually be true.
This led us to rethink several of the front runner ideas for mechanisms on the robot.
We had originally eliminated a ground pickup for the gears but after reevaluating it. We realized that the passive intake from the feeder slot will take up a a lot of room and has the potential to be jammed if any balls get caught in it.
Any time you are stopped for loading at the feeder slot is time you aren't driving back to score. If your intake is good enough and you have a floor intake for gears you don't ever have to line up at the feeder slot which may be very hard (one of the driver stations on each alliance has to look through an airship to see it).
We are also looking at our drive train again to make sure we are getting the most out of it and that are frame style will be able to adapt to this year's game challenge.
Intake and shooter prototype CAD models have moved forward.
We will have a larger update tomorrow night after the first episode of the new RoboSportsNetwork show check_in. Please tune in Tuesday night at 6pm CST. We are one of six featured teams that will be sharing our FRC season experience with you live each week.
https://www.twitch.tv/frcgamesense
- Spectrum
"We did it because we cared, because when you realize how well you can make something, falling short, whether seen or not, feels like failure." - Jony Ives
January 11, 2017Day 4: Recap
We're now 4 days through the season. This is when teams are finalizing their initial designs and beginning to build more high quality prototypes.
Strategy Breakdown
One of the main goals for the first few days of the season is to make sure everyone on the team has a very firm grasp on the important aspects of the game strategy.
First Impressions
- Additional Human Players on the field.
- Lots of balls on the field.
- Flat field, nothing to drive over, very low bumpers, and ground clearance
- Auto has big potential bonuses
- Have to understand the ranking system (additional ranking points for tasks)
Ways to Score
- High goal
-
Low goal
-
Auto moving
-
Reserve gear (rotor 1)
-
Reserve gear has to be applied to a different rotor if rotor 1 is engaged during auto
-
Points on the ground (Fuel on the ground)
-
Gears to run the rotors
-
Climbing points
-
Penalty points
Ways to Deny Points
- Controlling game pieces
- Hoarding balls
- Hoarding gears (not really likely)
- Remove Gears from opponents lift (before they are raised in to the air ship)
- One on One Defense (pushing, hitting, etc)
- Especially while shooting or placing a gear on the lift
Limited Resources
-Game Limited Resources:
- Time (2:30)
- Gears
- Only located in Return loading lane
- 18 per alliance
- Full Hoppers - 5
- Space In front of hoppers (likely only 2 robots in front of each hopper)
- Space in Front of the Boiler
- Only a couple teams can fit directly in front of the boiler at a time and only one centered
- Two Return Loading Stations (In Loading Lane)
- Not symmetrical
- Gear Lifts
- Each alliance has 3
- Only two are on the side with the boiler
- Only 2 pilots to pick up gears
- Visibility may be hard from some stations to some lifts
- Space on the airship for gears
- Max 12 gears scored per alliance
- Visibility
- Sight lines will be obscured by the Air Ships
-Robot Limited Resources
- Very tight volumes
- Weight = 120lbs + bumpers + battery
- Battery Power (only one battery)
- This limits the number of motors to use at one time before brownout
- Air storage and production capacity
- Only one gears can be controlled at any time by your robot
Points in FRC STEAMworks
We worked out a points analysis for the game. This led to several conclusions. The GEARS have a diminishing return, the first 2 GEARS you score (not counting the reserve) are worth a combined 40 points. Then the next 4 are combined to be worth 40 points, then the next 6 combined are worth 40 points. This means your robot has to do the same amount of work for fewer and fewer points. They are scored in groups so if you score GEARS 7-11 but not the 12th all that work won't be represented in the final score.
The FUEL points are interesting since it takes a certain amount of scored goals (3 for high, 9 for low in Telop) to actually score a point. This should be far less time consuming then an unscored gear. FUEL (balls) are always worth the same amount of points and there are a ton of them in this game, 600 possible balls on the field.
What does this mean for STEAMworks matches? Most likely teams will focus on getting GEARS first since they are worth the most points for the least work for the first few GEARS. After each Rotor starts spinning the alliance should consider if they are going to be able to reach the next threshold to earn points. An alliance with 3 rotors spinning (6 GEARS scored) and only 45 seconds left in the match probably shouldn't continue giving GEARS to the airship since they have little chance of scoring 12 GEARS for the next Rotor.
FUEL is always valuable unless you overload the BOILER or score too many FUEL too close to the end of the match.
ROPE CLIMB is the highest valued single item and probably the best points/sec in the game.
Our Keys to STEAMworks
- Every robot should be able to score gears
- The first two GEARS are worth 40 points. If you find yourself on an alliance with no one who can score GEARS it's going to be hard to win a match
- Climb on
- The mechanical challenge of climbing a rope seems daunting but initial trials by "Robot in 3 Days" groups and others shows that there are many relatively simple ways to accomplish this. Anything that can be done on an FRC field by spinning a shaft is normally doable by a lot of teams.
- The intake is king
- With this many balls on the floor, you have to a have an amazing intake if you want to be an awesome robot. Hoppers only let go a max of 5 times a match and the human player is a long way from your BOILER.
- Balls per second
- You may have the most accurate shooter in all of FRC but if your rate of first isn't high enough it's not going to matter. Shoot a lot of balls and shoot them quickly. Shooting percentage will matter but possibly can be over come with quantity.
- It's a cycle game disguised as a mass collect game.
- In other mass collect games, your goal is to gather scoring objects for one to 3 big bursts of scoring. This was how 2006 Aim High and 2009 Lunacy were both played. STEAMworks isn't a mass collect game it's a cycle game. The top teams will be scoring GEARS and FUEL each cycle. So that means we have to optimize our cycles like 2013 "Ultimate Ascent"
Time Analysis
How long does each of our cycles actually take?
Our quick estimate says that we should be able to get 6-7 cycles of 1 gear and 30+ balls in the telop period of the match. These are optimistic, defense, driver mistakes, waiting for alliances to clear needed space, etc will slow these times down. This assumes we are using a floor loading GEAR pickup so we don't have to align to the loading station.
Initial Robot Plan
After strategy comes robot design. What robot do we build that can accomplish our strategy.
Robot Requirements
- Fast maneuverable drive base
- Wide Collector that can intake all the balls we run into while driving across the field.
- Modest ball storage - 40-50 balls is likely more than enough for a cycling robot. We want to be able to catch from the hopper but catching every ball isn't needed.
- Floor GEAR intake - on the same side as the ball intake.
- Rope Climbing Mechanism - This should be quick but world class is likely not needed 5-10 secs is more than fast enough.
- Shooter
- We are still developing
- We need a high goal shooter
- We want a high rate of fire
- We wish to have multiple shooting angles and positions
Current Design
Most of our current design is laid out in various ever changing and often confusing Solidworks sketches.
We know
- 29" x 29" Robot Chassis.
- 35" x 35" after we have bumpers
- This allows us to extend 4+ inches out past our bumpers in any direction we choose as long as we don't do it at the same time during a match.
- Wide and short lets us collect form the hopper and human loader if we need.
- Fold Down mecanum wheel intake over the front bumper
- Allows us to have a 28" wide intake
- Mecanum wheels spin the balls in past the bumpers
- Cut in our front bumper for balls to pass through. ~17" wide
- Rear mounted elevator and shooter
- Allows for a reasonable angle shot with your front bumpers pressed into the BOILER
- Climbing drum likely mounted low and on the back of the robot.
- Long drum to allow for less accurate driver alignment
Prototyping
- Turreted shooter
- We are looking to learn
- How the balls react to flywheels and spin.
- How they react to hitting a hood?
- How consistent are various fly wheels?
- Here is our first prototype design for the shooter.
- Gear Intake System
- The plan is to fold down an active roller and a small plate to intake the gear similar to how many 2011 intakes worked.
- We will need to package this into a small space for it to work with our design.
Open CAD Models
This year we are making all of our CAD completely available every Tuesday night (probably Wednesday morning). We will be updating our Grabcad Public Partner Spaces with the previous weeks CAD files. Feel free to use them however you wish. We make no guarantees about completeness or how much help they may be but we think it may interest some teams. If you don't see any updates contact us and we will update, we may have just forgot to push to the partner space.
You can find links of the 2017 Gamma Ray page of our website.
http://spectrum3847.org/robots/2017-gamma/
Check out check_in
We are part of a brand new program from the RoboSportsNetwork called check_in. Along with 5 other teams from around the country we will be sharing our build progress from the week and showing off our designs. Tune in every Tuesday at 7 ET (6 CT) for check_in. The first episode aired last night can be seen on the RoboSportsNetwork Youtube Page.
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/frcgamesense
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/FRCGameSense
- Spectrum
"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen" -- R.W. Emerson
January 12, 2017Day 5: More Design Work
Most of the day was spent in CAD refining the designs of our prototypes.
We changed the design of the bottom plate of our ground intake to include a moving belt instead of a lexan plate so it isn't required to ride on the ground.
Our drive train is coming together more and now has the option of adding a center wheel if we end up wanting to switch up our drive train mid season.
Our shooter prototype is close to competition and we should be shooting in the next two days.
We are starting to work through a few more of the details of the robot.
Funneling
There is a big challenge in any mass collection objective of funneling objects through your robot. Make sure you plan your ball path carefully. Passive funnels don't work nearly as well as active conveyor mechanisms. The Cheesy Poofs 2006 Robot has a very nice active conveyor system. Belts on the bottom of the ball work very well for moving balls back to the elevator.
Capacity
We are starting to think that storage capacity isn't as big of deal as people are making it out to be. If you are storing more than 50 balls it's going to take some time to shoot them and in that time you me see a lot more defense. Capacity isn't a bad thing unless it takes away from the effectiveness of your other scoring elements or the overall robustness of your robot..
- Spectrum
"I confess that, in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that men would not fly for 50 years. Two years later, we ourselves were making flights. This demonstration of my inability as a prophet gave me such a shock that I have ever since distrusted myself and have refrained from all prediction." -— Wilbur Wright Speech at Aero-Club de France, 1908
January 12, 2017Day 6: Prototypes are getting closer
As we said earlier we have made an effort to make sure we are doing a better job of actually designing our prototypes this year.
Before we build a prototype for an over the bumper intake roller we will actually do the 2D CAD and parts of the 3D design to make sure we are actually building something that will fit on our robot. We know that spinning wheels will suck balls in to our robot. What we actually need to test is how much compression should we have, which wheels will do it best, what is the spacing on those wheels. So by doing more design work early and build better prototypes we can find solutions to these questions faster.
Here is a sketch of the over the bumper intake that we will be assembling tomorrow. This is designed in the same manner that Adam Heard and team 973 describe in their awesome RAMP Video series. This graphic give most of the information we need to actually build the intake. We know how long the pivot arm is, we know it's up and down location, we know the location of the pivot relative to the front of the robot and to the floor. We know where to mount the pneumatic cylinder to move it up and down. This will use a 3" stroke 3/4" bore pneumatic cylinder.
Here is the 3D model of the same design, this doesn't include the pneumatic cylinder yet.
Construction on our shooter prototype is nearing completion, we were able to take some test shots but we'll have more experimentation to do over the next few days.
We are wiring one of our old practice bots to simulate this year's drive train for the programming team to get started with auto routines.
Several members are getting their first taste of machining during build season as well.
- Spectrum
“But in fact, great projects, like great careers and relationships that last, are gardens. They are tended, they shift, they grow. They endure over time, gaining a personality and reflecting their environment. When something dies or fades away, we prune, replant and grow again.” - Seth Godin
January 14, 2017Day 7: Climbing
We continued working on prototypes, including retro fitting one of our off-season robots to be a climbing test bed. We had it do a test climb but we had attached the rope to it. Now to learn how to grab the rope.
The prototype drive train is made from plywood and peg board which makes testing electronics layouts easier.
We continued getting the programming test bench ready for the programmers to start autonomous testing.
- Spectrum
“But what if I make a mistake?' Will asked.
Gilan threw back his head and laughed. 'A mistake? One mistake? You should be so lucky. You'll make dozens! I made four or five on my first day alone! Of course you'll make mistakes. Just don't make any of them twice. If you do mess things up, don't try to hide it. Don't try to rationalize it. Recognize it and admit it and learn from it. We never stop learning, none of us.” ― John Flanagan, Erak's Ransom
January 15, 2017Day 8: Start of Week 2
Long Saturday in the lab we are working though getting the prototypes assembled and finding the sticking points that we need to improve.
The intake is much closer to fully being able to be tested. The over the bumper mecanum arm is mounted by without it's pneumatic cylinder to raise and lower it. We are printed a large amount of pulleys to use on the intake.
The shooter prototypes are moving forward, still testing for shot consistency.
We also built test bumpers today to make sure our mechanism will interact properly with our bumpers.
Tomorrow we have several young teams coming in for our Boot Camp Build Day, should be a lot of fun.
- Spectrum
"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." - Amelia Earhart
January 16, 2017Day 9: Boot Camp Build Day
We opened up our lab to three teams from the area to come in and get assistance with the start of their seasons. We did a strategy and design talk in the morning to discuss the game. We looked at the different methods to easily score points, etc.
We worked with them to wire their electronics panels and assemble their AM14U frames.
All three of the teams are off to a good start and we looking forward to working with them throughout the year.
After the teams finished we had a build session to continue working on our prototypes. The shooter was transitioned to a drum shooter using the 1.25" OD aluminum tubing and latex tubing that we used last year for our intake. With a very small amount of compression (.125-.25) we are able to accelerate balls up to the goal.
Thank you to mentors from FRC#5829 and FRC#624 for joining us today at our workshop, we really appreciate the help.
If you haven't seen our friends FRC#5829's AwtyBots' Blog yet you have to check it out, they are doing great work this year.
- Spectrum
“The capacity to learn is a gift;
The ability to learn is a skill;
The willingness to learn is a choice.”
-- Dune: House Harknonnen, p. 437
January 17, 2017Day 10: CAD progressing even further
Here is a portion of the CAD we have done for the robot. The drive train and a portion of the intake will get their Rev 1 versions sent to our laser cut sponsors tomorrow to be made so we can get it setup on the practice robot to make sure everything is correct before we run the production models. Intake compression distances and belt lengths will be critical in making a blazing fast intake for this many balls.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 6 CT (7 ET) for check_in on RoboSports Network.
https://www.twitch.tv/frcgamesense
We will have video from this past weeks prototypes and interviews with several of our design team leads on how their subsystems are progressing.
Tomorrow will be our full week recap post where we will break down the progress on each of our subsystems.
- Spectrum
The question of whether computers can think is just like the question of whether submarines can swim. — Edsger W. Dijkstra
January 19, 2017Day 13: Robot Update
Spectrum Week 2 Video Updates
Recap Video
Full Time Lapse
check_in
Be sure to watch our segment of check_in from this Tuesday’s show
New live episodes air every Tuesday at 6 CT (7ET) on the RoboSports Network
Spectrum Current Robot Status
Here is the current form of the prototype, we should be able to have it shooting balls tomorrow or Friday. This wooden version of our robot is named "Radio"
All of our CAD Files are published on our 2017 Robot Page of our website.
http://spectrum3847.org/robots/2017-gamma/
1. Drive Train
The plan for the drive train is a relatively simple single speed drive train with 6 MiniCIMs or a possible 1 CIM and 2 MiniCIMs on each side of the drive train. We are geared 12:72 which was the same gearing we used in 2014. We'll have a little less acceleration than we did that year if we keep it at 6 MiniCIMs but should be fine for our top speed. You can see we have already started designing the bumper brackets for the robot this year as well. We are planning to use Slide Snap Latches similar to team Neutrino FRC#3928.
The drive train is going to be 4 wheel drive with 2 VEXpro traction wheels and 2 omni-wheels.
We are working on a couple additions to this current concept including possibly adding pancake cylinders to the base of our drive train to help prevent us from being moved from in front of the boiler when we are shooting Fuel.
Below you can see the wooden version of the drive train we made on our router to make sure our chain clearances, spacing, etc are all the way we want them.
2. Shooter
Our 2nd subsystem is our shooter. Our plan here is to be a 3 wide shooter that shoots from inside of the key. We are using 2 small drums to shoot the balls. Initial testing proved that we could get these drums up to speed quickly and power them with very little reduction from a 775pro. We are actually going to be driving these ~1.5in rollers using GT2 belts with a 1:2 reduction off the 775pro motors. This system will be tested more this coming weekend. We are waiting for the GT2 belts to come in from WCProducts. Our test version was only a single ball wide and was powered by 4 775pros that were all in VersaPlanetary gearboxes and chain to the rollers.
3. Elevator
The elevator is a crucial part to any robot this year. We are trying to optimize it so that we can eliminate jams and also get a large amount of balls to the shooter very quickly. The 3 channel timing belt elevator should allow us to organize the balls easily. Speed is going to be are biggest challenge. We are working on making sure that the balls are centered in their paths and that they exit the elevator into the shooter in a consistent manner each time.
There are several planned improvements to this system including servo powered stops that will hold back the left or right sides of the shooter so that if we are shooting and know that are left or right shots won't make it we can shut off one of them and only fire the balls we think can make it into the goal. We'll also have a few sensors that will let us know that our balls are in the proper position to begin firing.
4. Intake and Hopper
The Problem
While both computers were running without a hitch and the shelves had decidedly not fallen while in use, there was one small problem: the sheer size and quality (not PWM or static pressure optimized) of fans used to cool the components produced a sound comparable to a small turbine, making any communication with persons outside of the room near impossible and generally being a nuisance.
Of the five total fans present in the case: three were an easy solution. The two 80x38mm fans used to cool the CPUs and the one directed over the RAM and PCIe slots were replaced with specimens of approximately one-half the thickness. This, however, turned out to be only part of the problem, as the 40mm fan in the PSU, which turned out to be two fans back-to-back, continued to produce a significant roar.
Some initial investigation revealed a few important details about these fans:
Some initial investigation revealed a few important details about these fans:
- It would be difficult, if not impossible to separate them from each other without permanently damaging their housings.
- The PSU would shut down if one or both fans were forcible stopped, and would not start if one were wholly unplugged.
These made it impossible to simply remove or unplug one fan. So a slightly more roundabout solution was conceived. Amidst much debate over whether or not the PSU's controller was also smart enough to kill power if it sensed the fan spinning but not being powered, we opted to test this fact, arriving at the conclusion that no, the controller did not care if there was power to the fan header or not so long as the signal pin told it the fan was moving.
The Solution
With this newfound insight into the inner machinations of our PSU's controller, we stripped off a length of insulation from one fan header's wire and spliced on a jumper cable from a hobby electronics kit. The female head on the cable had to be taken down to size a little bit, but it managed to hold itself together with a little help from some electrician's tape and didn't short anything out when we turned it on. The PSU, having been tricked into thinking both fans were running, turned on and functioned properly, and with a significantly less tumultuous sound to boot.
January 8, 2017
Day 1: STEAMworks has arrived
After months of anticipation the 2017 FRC game is finally here. Check out the video below.
Today we accomplished the most important task of the season. We read and understood the game manual. This is a critical task for anyone involved with FRC. If you haven't sat down and one this please do it, you will have a far better understanding of your next 4 weeks.
Things we noticed
- Bumpers are part of your robot volume. This is critical that all teams know this rule. Read G04 and R03 very carefully. Bumpers are not however part of your frame perimeter. You do have to start in frame perimeter but you don't have to stay that way. So extending over your bumpers is totally cool as long you don't break the total volume.
- Bumpers can be touching the ground this year. We assume this is show the balls aren't traveling under teams bumpers but just know your bumpers will be getting nice and low this year.
- The field is asymmetric when you are Red the boiler is on your right, when you are blue the boiler is on your left. This changes everything for your auton modes and for your driver practice.
- You have to a score on the goals nearest your alliance station. This means you are shooting at the goals while your robot is practically facing your drivers. It will be much harder to align this way since you can't just use an aiming light and aim front across the field. Camera streams back to the driver station and vision processing will be much more important.
- There are big points available in auton. If you can get to a hopper and load your robot, it's possible for your to score 60+ kPa just in autonomous mode. This is enough for your to get the ranking point for building enough pressure. A simple gear hang in Autonomous is gives your alliance 20 more points then the same action if performed by the drivers in teleop.
- Speaking of Auton at the highest level of game play this game could be amazing. With only 5 hoppers on the field and 6 robots, if everyone wants to try to autonomously get a nice large load of 50+ fuel at least two teams will be racing towards the center hopper to see who can get away with the most fuel balls. Autonomous interaction in the neutral could become a very interesting part of the game at higher levels of play.
- The gears are a game of diminishing returns. Your first gear is 40 points, then 2 gears is 40 points, then 4 gear, and then finally it takes 6 gears. It pays to do a few gears a match but very quickly the rewards stop paying out if you aren't going to be able to get all 4 rotors spinning. You might want to focus on ball scores after the first few gears. Also the first one is freebie right after auto ends so it's really your first 2 gears scored that have the highest payoff. This gets a lot more complicated in the playoffs.
- There are two different games being played in Qualifications and Playoffs. In Qualifications it's far easier to score 40 kPa and get your additional ranking point then it is to secure 12 gears in the air ship. In the playoffs if you work with your alliance securing 12 gears is far more valuable to the end score then the 40kPa pressure goal you will covet in the qualification rounds.
- Event Finals no longer can end in a Tie. Any finals tie will be replayed up to three times before going to tie breakers.
- The 2nd sort for rankings after Ranking points is cumulative match points. This has been auton points in the past and a few other things but this year you want to score as many points as you can in every match to break the tie with anyone who has the same ranking points.
Rest of the Season
We are planning to still post nightly updates like we have in the past but they may be shorter except for our Tuesday night updates where we will combine a lot of our progress from the previous week, videos, tests, etc.
check_in
Also be sure to check to check us out on the new RSN show check_in every Tuesday at 6 PM CT.
This is the Year
Fantastic Chiefdelphi post from 2005 but still rings true today.
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/t/this-is-the-year/66688
- Spectrum
"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." - George Edward Woodberry
- There are two different games being played in Qualifications and Playoffs. In Qualifications it's far easier to score 40 kPa and get your additional ranking point then it is to secure 12 gears in the air ship. In the playoffs if you work with your alliance securing 12 gears is far more valuable to the end score then the 40kPa pressure goal you will covet in the qualification rounds.
- Event Finals no longer can end in a Tie. Any finals tie will be replayed up to three times before going to tie breakers.
- The 2nd sort for rankings after Ranking points is cumulative match points. This has been auton points in the past and a few other things but this year you want to score as many points as you can in every match to break the tie with anyone who has the same ranking points.
Rest of the Season
We are planning to still post nightly updates like we have in the past but they may be shorter except for our Tuesday night updates where we will combine a lot of our progress from the previous week, videos, tests, etc.
check_in
Also be sure to check to check us out on the new RSN show check_in every Tuesday at 6 PM CT.
This is the Year
Fantastic Chiefdelphi post from 2005 but still rings true today.
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/t/this-is-the-year/66688
- Spectrum
"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." - George Edward Woodberry
January 8, 2017
Day 2: Full STEAM ahead
Robot Design is Beginning
We started brainstorming designs and working through solutions to our strategy goals. A bunch of sketches were done today for various parts of our robot design. There is a ton of things to in this game and it's going to be a lot of fun. We moved a few of prototypes into 3D as well but they are still a work in progress. We should be getting our first shooter and drive train models finished up over the next couple days.
Completed Loading Station
We had a group of students working on field construction today and finished this awesome loading station. We also have started the team version of the Lift and a mock version of the real lift as well. If you are going for the gears you may want to try building a moving version of the lift. We think building a version of the lift that is able to be activated will be a big help to teams and it's not a very complicated part.
Tip of the Day:
The loading stations are going to be asymetrical for wide robots. Keep this in mind especially when loading gears into your robot.
- Spectrum
“Random Results are the Result of Random Procedures” Geoffe Portes
“Random Results are the Result of Random Procedures” Geoffe Portes
January 10, 2017
Day 3: Rethinking our intial plans
We started the day by going back over the strategy notes from Saturday and seeing what assumptions we made that may not actually be true.
This led us to rethink several of the front runner ideas for mechanisms on the robot.
We had originally eliminated a ground pickup for the gears but after reevaluating it. We realized that the passive intake from the feeder slot will take up a a lot of room and has the potential to be jammed if any balls get caught in it.
Any time you are stopped for loading at the feeder slot is time you aren't driving back to score. If your intake is good enough and you have a floor intake for gears you don't ever have to line up at the feeder slot which may be very hard (one of the driver stations on each alliance has to look through an airship to see it).
We are also looking at our drive train again to make sure we are getting the most out of it and that are frame style will be able to adapt to this year's game challenge.
Intake and shooter prototype CAD models have moved forward.
We will have a larger update tomorrow night after the first episode of the new RoboSportsNetwork show check_in. Please tune in Tuesday night at 6pm CST. We are one of six featured teams that will be sharing our FRC season experience with you live each week.
https://www.twitch.tv/frcgamesense
- Spectrum
"We did it because we cared, because when you realize how well you can make something, falling short, whether seen or not, feels like failure." - Jony Ives
This led us to rethink several of the front runner ideas for mechanisms on the robot.
We had originally eliminated a ground pickup for the gears but after reevaluating it. We realized that the passive intake from the feeder slot will take up a a lot of room and has the potential to be jammed if any balls get caught in it.
Any time you are stopped for loading at the feeder slot is time you aren't driving back to score. If your intake is good enough and you have a floor intake for gears you don't ever have to line up at the feeder slot which may be very hard (one of the driver stations on each alliance has to look through an airship to see it).
We are also looking at our drive train again to make sure we are getting the most out of it and that are frame style will be able to adapt to this year's game challenge.
Intake and shooter prototype CAD models have moved forward.
We will have a larger update tomorrow night after the first episode of the new RoboSportsNetwork show check_in. Please tune in Tuesday night at 6pm CST. We are one of six featured teams that will be sharing our FRC season experience with you live each week.
https://www.twitch.tv/frcgamesense
- Spectrum
"We did it because we cared, because when you realize how well you can make something, falling short, whether seen or not, feels like failure." - Jony Ives
January 11, 2017
Day 4: Recap
We're now 4 days through the season. This is when teams are finalizing their initial designs and beginning to build more high quality prototypes.
First Impressions
Strategy Breakdown
One of the main goals for the first few days of the season is to make sure everyone on the team has a very firm grasp on the important aspects of the game strategy.First Impressions
- Additional Human Players on the field.
- Lots of balls on the field.
- Flat field, nothing to drive over, very low bumpers, and ground clearance
- Auto has big potential bonuses
- Have to understand the ranking system (additional ranking points for tasks)
- High goal
- Low goalAuto movingReserve gear (rotor 1)
- Reserve gear has to be applied to a different rotor if rotor 1 is engaged during autoPoints on the ground (Fuel on the ground)Gears to run the rotorsClimbing pointsPenalty points
Ways to Deny Points
- Controlling game pieces
- Hoarding balls
- Hoarding gears (not really likely)
- Remove Gears from opponents lift (before they are raised in to the air ship)
- One on One Defense (pushing, hitting, etc)
- Especially while shooting or placing a gear on the lift
Limited Resources -Game Limited Resources:- Time (2:30)
- Gears
- Only located in Return loading lane
- 18 per alliance
- Full Hoppers - 5
- Space In front of hoppers (likely only 2 robots in front of each hopper)
- Space in Front of the Boiler
- Only a couple teams can fit directly in front of the boiler at a time and only one centered
- Two Return Loading Stations (In Loading Lane)
- Not symmetrical
- Gear Lifts
- Each alliance has 3
- Only two are on the side with the boiler
- Only 2 pilots to pick up gears
- Visibility may be hard from some stations to some lifts
- Space on the airship for gears
- Max 12 gears scored per alliance
- Visibility
- Sight lines will be obscured by the Air Ships
- Very tight volumes
- Weight = 120lbs + bumpers + battery
- Battery Power (only one battery)
- This limits the number of motors to use at one time before brownout
- Air storage and production capacity
- Only one gears can be controlled at any time by your robot
Points in FRC STEAMworksWe worked out a points analysis for the game. This led to several conclusions. The GEARS have a diminishing return, the first 2 GEARS you score (not counting the reserve) are worth a combined 40 points. Then the next 4 are combined to be worth 40 points, then the next 6 combined are worth 40 points. This means your robot has to do the same amount of work for fewer and fewer points. They are scored in groups so if you score GEARS 7-11 but not the 12th all that work won't be represented in the final score.
The FUEL points are interesting since it takes a certain amount of scored goals (3 for high, 9 for low in Telop) to actually score a point. This should be far less time consuming then an unscored gear. FUEL (balls) are always worth the same amount of points and there are a ton of them in this game, 600 possible balls on the field.
What does this mean for STEAMworks matches? Most likely teams will focus on getting GEARS first since they are worth the most points for the least work for the first few GEARS. After each Rotor starts spinning the alliance should consider if they are going to be able to reach the next threshold to earn points. An alliance with 3 rotors spinning (6 GEARS scored) and only 45 seconds left in the match probably shouldn't continue giving GEARS to the airship since they have little chance of scoring 12 GEARS for the next Rotor.
FUEL is always valuable unless you overload the BOILER or score too many FUEL too close to the end of the match.
ROPE CLIMB is the highest valued single item and probably the best points/sec in the game.
Our Keys to STEAMworks- Every robot should be able to score gears
- The first two GEARS are worth 40 points. If you find yourself on an alliance with no one who can score GEARS it's going to be hard to win a match
- Climb on
- The mechanical challenge of climbing a rope seems daunting but initial trials by "Robot in 3 Days" groups and others shows that there are many relatively simple ways to accomplish this. Anything that can be done on an FRC field by spinning a shaft is normally doable by a lot of teams.
- The intake is king
- With this many balls on the floor, you have to a have an amazing intake if you want to be an awesome robot. Hoppers only let go a max of 5 times a match and the human player is a long way from your BOILER.
- Balls per second
- You may have the most accurate shooter in all of FRC but if your rate of first isn't high enough it's not going to matter. Shoot a lot of balls and shoot them quickly. Shooting percentage will matter but possibly can be over come with quantity.
- It's a cycle game disguised as a mass collect game.
- In other mass collect games, your goal is to gather scoring objects for one to 3 big bursts of scoring. This was how 2006 Aim High and 2009 Lunacy were both played. STEAMworks isn't a mass collect game it's a cycle game. The top teams will be scoring GEARS and FUEL each cycle. So that means we have to optimize our cycles like 2013 "Ultimate Ascent"
Time AnalysisHow long does each of our cycles actually take?
Our quick estimate says that we should be able to get 6-7 cycles of 1 gear and 30+ balls in the telop period of the match. These are optimistic, defense, driver mistakes, waiting for alliances to clear needed space, etc will slow these times down. This assumes we are using a floor loading GEAR pickup so we don't have to align to the loading station.
Initial Robot PlanAfter strategy comes robot design. What robot do we build that can accomplish our strategy.
Robot Requirements- Fast maneuverable drive base
- Wide Collector that can intake all the balls we run into while driving across the field.
- Modest ball storage - 40-50 balls is likely more than enough for a cycling robot. We want to be able to catch from the hopper but catching every ball isn't needed.
- Floor GEAR intake - on the same side as the ball intake.
- Rope Climbing Mechanism - This should be quick but world class is likely not needed 5-10 secs is more than fast enough.
- Shooter
- We are still developing
- We need a high goal shooter
- We want a high rate of fire
- We wish to have multiple shooting angles and positions
Current DesignMost of our current design is laid out in various ever changing and often confusing Solidworks sketches.
We know- 29" x 29" Robot Chassis.
- 35" x 35" after we have bumpers
- This allows us to extend 4+ inches out past our bumpers in any direction we choose as long as we don't do it at the same time during a match.
- Wide and short lets us collect form the hopper and human loader if we need.
- Fold Down mecanum wheel intake over the front bumper
- Allows us to have a 28" wide intake
- Mecanum wheels spin the balls in past the bumpers
- Cut in our front bumper for balls to pass through. ~17" wide
- Rear mounted elevator and shooter
- Allows for a reasonable angle shot with your front bumpers pressed into the BOILER
- Climbing drum likely mounted low and on the back of the robot.
- Long drum to allow for less accurate driver alignment
Prototyping- Turreted shooter
- We are looking to learn
- How the balls react to flywheels and spin.
- How they react to hitting a hood?
- How consistent are various fly wheels?
- Here is our first prototype design for the shooter.
- Gear Intake System
- The plan is to fold down an active roller and a small plate to intake the gear similar to how many 2011 intakes worked.
- We will need to package this into a small space for it to work with our design.
Open CAD ModelsThis year we are making all of our CAD completely available every Tuesday night (probably Wednesday morning). We will be updating our Grabcad Public Partner Spaces with the previous weeks CAD files. Feel free to use them however you wish. We make no guarantees about completeness or how much help they may be but we think it may interest some teams. If you don't see any updates contact us and we will update, we may have just forgot to push to the partner space.
You can find links of the 2017 Gamma Ray page of our website.http://spectrum3847.org/robots/2017-gamma/
Check out check_inWe are part of a brand new program from the RoboSportsNetwork called check_in. Along with 5 other teams from around the country we will be sharing our build progress from the week and showing off our designs. Tune in every Tuesday at 7 ET (6 CT) for check_in. The first episode aired last night can be seen on the RoboSportsNetwork Youtube Page.
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/frcgamesenseYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/user/FRCGameSense
- Spectrum
"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen" -- R.W. Emerson
January 12, 2017Day 5: More Design Work
Most of the day was spent in CAD refining the designs of our prototypes.
We changed the design of the bottom plate of our ground intake to include a moving belt instead of a lexan plate so it isn't required to ride on the ground.
Our drive train is coming together more and now has the option of adding a center wheel if we end up wanting to switch up our drive train mid season.
Our shooter prototype is close to competition and we should be shooting in the next two days.
We are starting to work through a few more of the details of the robot.
Funneling
There is a big challenge in any mass collection objective of funneling objects through your robot. Make sure you plan your ball path carefully. Passive funnels don't work nearly as well as active conveyor mechanisms. The Cheesy Poofs 2006 Robot has a very nice active conveyor system. Belts on the bottom of the ball work very well for moving balls back to the elevator.
Capacity
We are starting to think that storage capacity isn't as big of deal as people are making it out to be. If you are storing more than 50 balls it's going to take some time to shoot them and in that time you me see a lot more defense. Capacity isn't a bad thing unless it takes away from the effectiveness of your other scoring elements or the overall robustness of your robot..
- Spectrum
"I confess that, in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that men would not fly for 50 years. Two years later, we ourselves were making flights. This demonstration of my inability as a prophet gave me such a shock that I have ever since distrusted myself and have refrained from all prediction." -— Wilbur Wright Speech at Aero-Club de France, 1908January 12, 2017Day 6: Prototypes are getting closer
As we said earlier we have made an effort to make sure we are doing a better job of actually designing our prototypes this year.
Before we build a prototype for an over the bumper intake roller we will actually do the 2D CAD and parts of the 3D design to make sure we are actually building something that will fit on our robot. We know that spinning wheels will suck balls in to our robot. What we actually need to test is how much compression should we have, which wheels will do it best, what is the spacing on those wheels. So by doing more design work early and build better prototypes we can find solutions to these questions faster.
Here is a sketch of the over the bumper intake that we will be assembling tomorrow. This is designed in the same manner that Adam Heard and team 973 describe in their awesome RAMP Video series. This graphic give most of the information we need to actually build the intake. We know how long the pivot arm is, we know it's up and down location, we know the location of the pivot relative to the front of the robot and to the floor. We know where to mount the pneumatic cylinder to move it up and down. This will use a 3" stroke 3/4" bore pneumatic cylinder.
Here is the 3D model of the same design, this doesn't include the pneumatic cylinder yet.
Construction on our shooter prototype is nearing completion, we were able to take some test shots but we'll have more experimentation to do over the next few days.
We are wiring one of our old practice bots to simulate this year's drive train for the programming team to get started with auto routines.
Several members are getting their first taste of machining during build season as well.
- Spectrum
“But in fact, great projects, like great careers and relationships that last, are gardens. They are tended, they shift, they grow. They endure over time, gaining a personality and reflecting their environment. When something dies or fades away, we prune, replant and grow again.” - Seth GodinJanuary 14, 2017Day 7: Climbing
We continued working on prototypes, including retro fitting one of our off-season robots to be a climbing test bed. We had it do a test climb but we had attached the rope to it. Now to learn how to grab the rope.
The prototype drive train is made from plywood and peg board which makes testing electronics layouts easier.
We continued getting the programming test bench ready for the programmers to start autonomous testing.
- Spectrum
“But what if I make a mistake?' Will asked.
Gilan threw back his head and laughed. 'A mistake? One mistake? You should be so lucky. You'll make dozens! I made four or five on my first day alone! Of course you'll make mistakes. Just don't make any of them twice. If you do mess things up, don't try to hide it. Don't try to rationalize it. Recognize it and admit it and learn from it. We never stop learning, none of us.” ― John Flanagan, Erak's Ransom
January 15, 2017Day 8: Start of Week 2
Long Saturday in the lab we are working though getting the prototypes assembled and finding the sticking points that we need to improve.
The intake is much closer to fully being able to be tested. The over the bumper mecanum arm is mounted by without it's pneumatic cylinder to raise and lower it. We are printed a large amount of pulleys to use on the intake.
The shooter prototypes are moving forward, still testing for shot consistency.
We also built test bumpers today to make sure our mechanism will interact properly with our bumpers.
Tomorrow we have several young teams coming in for our Boot Camp Build Day, should be a lot of fun.
- Spectrum
"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." - Amelia Earhart
January 16, 2017Day 9: Boot Camp Build Day
We opened up our lab to three teams from the area to come in and get assistance with the start of their seasons. We did a strategy and design talk in the morning to discuss the game. We looked at the different methods to easily score points, etc.
We worked with them to wire their electronics panels and assemble their AM14U frames.
All three of the teams are off to a good start and we looking forward to working with them throughout the year.
After the teams finished we had a build session to continue working on our prototypes. The shooter was transitioned to a drum shooter using the 1.25" OD aluminum tubing and latex tubing that we used last year for our intake. With a very small amount of compression (.125-.25) we are able to accelerate balls up to the goal.
Thank you to mentors from FRC#5829 and FRC#624 for joining us today at our workshop, we really appreciate the help.
If you haven't seen our friends FRC#5829's AwtyBots' Blog yet you have to check it out, they are doing great work this year.
- Spectrum
“The capacity to learn is a gift;
The ability to learn is a skill;
The willingness to learn is a choice.”
-- Dune: House Harknonnen, p. 437
January 17, 2017Day 10: CAD progressing even further
Here is a portion of the CAD we have done for the robot. The drive train and a portion of the intake will get their Rev 1 versions sent to our laser cut sponsors tomorrow to be made so we can get it setup on the practice robot to make sure everything is correct before we run the production models. Intake compression distances and belt lengths will be critical in making a blazing fast intake for this many balls.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 6 CT (7 ET) for check_in on RoboSports Network.
https://www.twitch.tv/frcgamesense
We will have video from this past weeks prototypes and interviews with several of our design team leads on how their subsystems are progressing.
Tomorrow will be our full week recap post where we will break down the progress on each of our subsystems.
- Spectrum
The question of whether computers can think is just like the question of whether submarines can swim. — Edsger W. DijkstraJanuary 19, 2017Day 13: Robot Update
Spectrum Week 2 Video Updates
Recap Video
Full Time Lapse
check_in
Be sure to watch our segment of check_in from this Tuesday’s show
New live episodes air every Tuesday at 6 CT (7ET) on the RoboSports NetworkSpectrum Current Robot Status
Here is the current form of the prototype, we should be able to have it shooting balls tomorrow or Friday. This wooden version of our robot is named "Radio"
All of our CAD Files are published on our 2017 Robot Page of our website.http://spectrum3847.org/robots/2017-gamma/
1. Drive Train
The plan for the drive train is a relatively simple single speed drive train with 6 MiniCIMs or a possible 1 CIM and 2 MiniCIMs on each side of the drive train. We are geared 12:72 which was the same gearing we used in 2014. We'll have a little less acceleration than we did that year if we keep it at 6 MiniCIMs but should be fine for our top speed. You can see we have already started designing the bumper brackets for the robot this year as well. We are planning to use Slide Snap Latches similar to team Neutrino FRC#3928.
The drive train is going to be 4 wheel drive with 2 VEXpro traction wheels and 2 omni-wheels.
We are working on a couple additions to this current concept including possibly adding pancake cylinders to the base of our drive train to help prevent us from being moved from in front of the boiler when we are shooting Fuel.
Below you can see the wooden version of the drive train we made on our router to make sure our chain clearances, spacing, etc are all the way we want them.
2. Shooter
Our 2nd subsystem is our shooter. Our plan here is to be a 3 wide shooter that shoots from inside of the key. We are using 2 small drums to shoot the balls. Initial testing proved that we could get these drums up to speed quickly and power them with very little reduction from a 775pro. We are actually going to be driving these ~1.5in rollers using GT2 belts with a 1:2 reduction off the 775pro motors. This system will be tested more this coming weekend. We are waiting for the GT2 belts to come in from WCProducts. Our test version was only a single ball wide and was powered by 4 775pros that were all in VersaPlanetary gearboxes and chain to the rollers.
3. Elevator
The elevator is a crucial part to any robot this year. We are trying to optimize it so that we can eliminate jams and also get a large amount of balls to the shooter very quickly. The 3 channel timing belt elevator should allow us to organize the balls easily. Speed is going to be are biggest challenge. We are working on making sure that the balls are centered in their paths and that they exit the elevator into the shooter in a consistent manner each time.
There are several planned improvements to this system including servo powered stops that will hold back the left or right sides of the shooter so that if we are shooting and know that are left or right shots won't make it we can shut off one of them and only fire the balls we think can make it into the goal. We'll also have a few sensors that will let us know that our balls are in the proper position to begin firing.
4. Intake and Hopper
