Sparkfun AVC

[jesse brockmann]

Are you as excited as me!?  :)  So, who has their bots ready?

Small, Medium and Large

Jesse

[Minuteman]

Looks like a formidable lineup! Of course when I see your bots, I mostly just think about the risk of getting tangled up--we have history! :) When you said you had something secret, for some reason an on-road car is the first thing I thought of. I've been toying with doing one for a long time, but for various reasons never when through with it.

So you are going to run them in each of the 3 weight categories? I think Road Runner is going for the light class, so I need to choose between medium and heavy (if they'll let me go "up" a category). Which do you think would see the least chance of us tangling? 

Where is the A-PRS? How are you going to manage to race all these? See you soon!

Nathan

[Ted Meyers]

Yes! Very excited! We will be entering 2 bots: Rosy in lightweight, and Daisy in APRS. It looks like we might actually be ready.

See you there!

[Ted Meyers]

Nathan, it is easy to go up a weight class; just add 10, 15, 20 lbs of dead weight. I could bring some lead ;)

Ted

[jesse brockmann]

Nathan,

   A road car is something I've wanted to do for years as well.   It's got amazing handling, and the speed is just insane.  3.5hp in a 10lb car.

   I don't think they will allow bots to run in different weight classes without actually making weight.   It's an unfair advantage that I don't think should be allowed.   It's not like a boxer moving up in weight class, it's more like allowing a car into a NASCAR race that's under weight.  In cars extra weight is a disadvantage.   I tried adding 5 pounds to my lightweight rover, and it did run.. but was compressing the suspension a ton, it would be more like a road car it was so low!  So each bot has it's own weight class, and I don't really need to add much weight to meet the requirements. 

   Not sure how to deal with tangling this year.   The only way to make sure would be to line up together on Friday and see if we do..  if we do at least then it won't count for competition.   My lightweight entry is my 2014 AVC bot redone so yeah we've got some history.

A+PRS.. given it's a brand new competition I don't want to share anything more about my bot till after the race.   Would like to keep some advantage. ;)

I've got 2 extra people on my team to help manage all the bots.  But for all the classic avc bots I can reuse my course data just like you do with road runner/minute man.

Jesse

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[Ted Meyers]

Yup, gotta agree that weight is a huge disadvantage. Except when playng bumper cars. And you two are destined to tangle!

But, yeah, I wouldn't expect lightweight cars to be allowed in the heavier classes. That would be cheating.

[Minuteman]

Well, I'm glad we had this conversation! I weighed Minuteman, and it tips the scales at a paltry 3 lb 6 oz.so there is no way it's going into welter weight. So I pulled out my old  Emaxx, and it weighs-in right at 10 lbs. I spent the afternoon wiring up a navigation system, and registered it this morning. So, I guess I will have 3 bots this year.

BTW, Jesse, your image of three vehicles really messes with my brain. The middle image looks like a typical 1/10 scale car to me. But if it weighs as much as my Emaxx (which feels really heavy) then it must be a beast! Also your bigger car weighs 25+?! What a monster.

On Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 2:18:01 PM UTC-6, JesseJay wrote:

[jesse brockmann]

Register?  Registration has long been closed and deadlines for proof also have passed. Huh?

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[jesse brockmann]

The middle car is a 1/7th scale car, and it would look much bigger with the body on it.  Without the body it weighs 10.6 pounds.

Maxx weighs 26 pounds.

Jesse

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[Ted Meyers]

Congrats on getting the 10 pounder running!  It will be cool to see another "bigger" bot race.  I suspect that almost all the classic AVC entries are lightweights.

Ted

[Ted Meyers]

Anyone have any thoughts on the Classic shortcut and discombobulator/pit?  At this point I have no idea what to do; there are so few details on either of them.  For now, planning on going the long way around.

Ted

[jesse brockmann]

Need to see in person.  As you said not enough details.  But it seems clear the discombobulator will not be slower than last year.   Depends how close the kiddy pool is.   Shortcut, need to see the obstacles. Keep in mind it's supposed to be 7 feet wide instead of 10ft.

JesseJay

On Sep 12, 2016 9:27 PM, "Ted Meyers" <ted.m...@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone have any thoughts on the Classic shortcut and discombobulator/pit?  At this point I have no idea what to do; there are so few details on either of them.  For now, planning on going the long way around.

Ted

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[Minuteman]

Yeah, the discombobulator...If anyone can pass it and still finish the course I would give them a 10,000 point bonus. If they really want people to take it seriously, they need to assign it a much bigger bonus. As-is, it's not worth the risk. On the short cut, I agree with Jesse, we'll have to have a look at it before deciding.  

[Ted Meyers]

7 feet wide!  I didn't realize that; that explains some of the course discrepancies that I've found.  I'm still off by 3 feet on the long axis -- the map shows 148 feet on one side and 68 + 77 ( = 145 feet) on the other.  Maybe the difference is just explained by the width of the hay bales.

Wow, 7 feet is not much room for error!

On Monday, September 12, 2016 at 8:35:12 PM UTC-6, JesseJay wrote:

Need to see in person.  As you said not enough details.  But it seems clear the discombobulator will not be slower than last year.   Depends how close the kiddy pool is.   Shortcut, need to see the obstacles. Keep in mind it's supposed to be 7 feet wide instead of 10ft.

JesseJay

On Sep 12, 2016 9:27 PM, "Ted Meyers" <ted.m...@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone have any thoughts on the Classic shortcut and discombobulator/pit?  At this point I have no idea what to do; there are so few details on either of them.  For now, planning on going the long way around.

Ted

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[Thomas Roell]

Where did you see the 7ft ? I am starting to get annoyed. First it's 10ft and no GPS-disadvantage, and now it's all changing ....

- Thomas

[jesse brockmann]

It's in the video.  The whole gps thing is annoying to me as well.  There is a no gps bonus..

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[Thomas Roell]

I meant that here:

"We’re going to reinstate the no-GPS Bonus Rule. If you manage to navigate this track without the aid of GPS, we will give you an additional 150 points!"

This wasn't in the original rules. So of course we thought to just reuse last years software and hardware, and fix the kinks. Fair playing field for the most crappy GPS reception I have ever seen short of nuclear fallout shelter. 

And now 7ft. Out code base can do +/- 1m (which is fine with 10ft), but a random generator with 7ft. The video says 10ft (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxLdy1z2gHk&feature=youtu.be&t=39). Makes me wonder whether we show up at all ...

The only place it says 7 1/2 ft is for the offroad part ...

- Thomas

On Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 1:15:28 PM UTC-6, JesseJay wrote:

It's in the video.  The whole gps thing is annoying to me as well.  There is a no gps bonus..

On Sep 13, 2016 2:10 PM, "Thomas Roell" <bizz...@gmail.com> wrote:

Where did you see the 7ft ? I am starting to get annoyed. First it's 10ft and no GPS-disadvantage, and now it's all changing ....

- Thomas

On Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 8:02:50 AM UTC-6, Ted Meyers wrote:

7 feet wide!  I didn't realize that; that explains some of the course discrepancies that I've found.  I'm still off by 3 feet on the long axis -- the map shows 148 feet on one side and 68 + 77 ( = 145 feet) on the other.  Maybe the difference is just explained by the width of the hay bales.

Wow, 7 feet is not much room for error!

On Monday, September 12, 2016 at 8:35:12 PM UTC-6, JesseJay wrote:

Need to see in person.  As you said not enough details.  But it seems clear the discombobulator will not be slower than last year.   Depends how close the kiddy pool is.   Shortcut, need to see the obstacles. Keep in mind it's supposed to be 7 feet wide instead of 10ft.

JesseJay

On Sep 12, 2016 9:27 PM, "Ted Meyers" <ted.m...@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone have any thoughts on the Classic shortcut and discombobulator/pit?  At this point I have no idea what to do; there are so few details on either of them.  For now, planning on going the long way around.

Ted

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[jesse brockmann]

  I was unhappy with the allowing of RTK gps.  Changes to add no gps bonus are ok to me.  Just wish the rules hadn't changed so much.  I lost time trying to keep up and changing plans multiple times.

  The 7.5 feet is only in off-road section.  Sorry if I mislead you.

JesseJay

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[Thomas Roell]

No problem with the 7.5ft.

But the GPS stuff is just no ok. You are probably fine because you had a non-GPS solution to begin with. But for somebody who was counting on no GPS disadvantage having that change is a pisser. Especially as it was put up rather silently without discussion mid-August.

- Thomas

[Ted Meyers]

I don't want to fan the flames, but...

I don't think the no-GPS bonus will matter.  Getting around the course 3 times in a row is what matters.  From the past few years, it is obvious that only a very few bots will successfully do that.  Get around 3 times and you are almost guaranteed first place; the loss of points for failure is just that great.  Get around 2 times and you likely place.  Maybe second, third, and fourth places will be determined by points, but just as likely the bonus won't matter.  I did an analysis last year and the only difference was third place in one of the classes.

So, just make your bot that good, and you win.

(I do believe that it is actually harder, especially this year, to navigate _with_ a GPS -- maybe there should be a bonus for using a GPS)

Ted

[Thomas Roell]

Ah, I see ... sounds like a bet is coming up.

I'll beat you, and you will cheerlead for our school's BEST Robotics team ?

- Thomas

PS: I have a secret GPS weapon ... massive ignorance ;-)

[Thomas Roell]

Just for the official record, here the weigh in picture for Speed Bump taken a minute ago ;-) 1.2 kg is perhaps lightweight ?

- Thomas

On Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 2:18:01 PM UTC-6, JesseJay wrote: