Today was the big FTC robotics qualifier! I had to get up really early and collect all the supplies that I was worried the team coach would forget to bring - and he did indeed forget an outlet strip and joysticks. We failed our first hardware inspection because we didn't have a dedicated flag holder (any old hole in the channels worked at previous meets) so we had to add some C brackets to pass. The other inspections were passed with ease. The interview with the judges went decently, but I feel that we didn't appear confident and energetic.
Back in the work area, we attached a servo to the guard flap so it could be raised and lowered so as to not get in the way of tubes when we push them. The bar that had previously been used for that purpose was removed. However, the servo we used was bad, so we did not attach that assembly to the robot.
In our first match, we ran the autonomous that attempts to drop a ball in a tube after coming down off the ramp. We didn't come down quite straight and instead slammed into the wall of the opposing parking zone, dropping the balls outside the field. In tele-op, we picked up some balls, but the lift got stuck on a cable and the tubes were trapped in the corner of the field. We managed to park in the parking zone, but our alliance partner tipped over the 90cm tube, which is a big penalty. We somehow won anyway, giving a good start to the day.
In the work area, we borrowed a good servo from another team and attached the guard flap. I adjusted the autonomous program to deal with that flap appropriately.
The RobotC compiler decided to add instructions that initialize other servos on the robot to positions that make the robot larger than the 18-inch cube and let the balls flow out of the hopper. That's unacceptable, so we had to run the simple autonomous that just drives down off the ramp. It slammed a tube hard against the wall, but did its job. In tele-op, we hit the kickstand and pushed one tube up the ramp. A wheel slipped into the area between the ramp and wall, trapping us on the ramp. Our alliance partner tried to push another tube up the ramp, but ran out of time and instead went into the parking zone. We lost because the opposing alliance scored balls in tubes.
While on lunch break, we applied some more hot glue to the flap that stops the large balls from flying out when the sorter is set to eject small balls. I forced the autonomous program to keep all the servos pointing inside the robot at placement.
Our third match partner team had a much better ramp autonomous, so we just stayed on the ground and played music. In tele-op, we hit the kickstand and pushed the 30cm tube up the ramp. Our alliance partner got stuck on the fallen kickstand and was unable to move from in front of the ramp. We tried to get around them but could not. Instead, the NXT fell off and also the guard flap apparently broke off somewhere along the way. We lost.
Seeing that the guard flap was not doing us much good, we replaced it with a claw to grip the tubes so we could pull them up ramps. It actually had to be removed while placing the robot for the fourth match because the servo's default position pushed it too far back against the lift and would burn out if we left it for a while.
In that match, we pushed both the 30cm and 60cm tubes up the ramp, but the 60cm one fell off, which is a big penalty. It did, however, fall into the parking zone, so we did get a few of those points back. Our alliance partner tried to place balls in the 90cm tube, but missed and for lack of time parked in the parking zone. This match was a loss because of that big penalty.
I adjusted the controls for the tube gripper and fixed the problem with the servo default angle. The gripper was remounted.
In our fifth and final match, we gave the ball-in-tube program one last shot. It was very close, but it missed the opening of the tube by the slightest bit. We got balls stuck under the robot, pushing our wheels up, rendering us completely immobile. Our partners got an appendage of their robot stuck in an opposing robot, rendering them immobile. This was a less-than-thrilling end to the matches and, of course, a loss.
After a disastrous 1-out-of-5 day, we stuck around for the awards. We didn't get anything, but we were "finalists" for the Innovate award and PTC Design award. It's something.
This is the end of the 2014-15 FTC season for team 7727.
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