FIRST competition

L...@notmine.com wrote:

I watched a few of the preliminary rounds of the Midwest playoff
yesterday. What I find depressing about FIRST is that the electronics
are contained in sealed up pre-fab modules. That approach makes perfect
sense for high school teams, but for me it makes things a lot less
interesting. All of the team effort goes into the mechanical aspects.
Also the high school cheering and flag-waving and team uniforms and
mascots really did not bring back any fond memories for me. I have
always been rather repelled by the promotion of "school spirit."

galt_57@hotmail.com wrote:


I just learned a something (the sealed stuff). And I am not too thrilled
with all the noise, but the mechanical differences and various strategies
are fun.

LB

L...@notmine.com wrote:

Yeah, after watching a few rounds you could really see how the
mechanical designs were limited. Too often they simply could not
position the arm where they needed it, or could not release the object
when and where they needed to. The primary problem seemed to be coping
with the limitations of your arm and at the same time coping with the
other robots who were engaged in blocking and pushing activities. If
your arm did not have enough degrees of freedom you couldn't overcome
the blocking and pushing.

LB@notmine.com wrote:

Here is a photo of what I believe is the main board that each robot
carries. It is connected to a 900MHz data-modem which I have also
pictured (except the robots use a short rubber duck antenna).

http://home.att.net/~galt_57/first_cntlr.jpg

That's the old version. It's a great bi-di control system.
www.innovationfirst.com

Dan



galt_57@hotmail.com wrote:

Couldn't they modularize it in clear plastic? I'd like to see the guts.