Minibot FRC 2011

[MrTechCenter]

We had our regional today and the MINIBOT IS KEY. Ours worked pretty well, it has 2 big wheels with motors on the bottom, a magnet in the middle (very powerful), another smaller set of wheels on top, abd some cheesholed metal to support it. And it has a switch to start it on contact and another to stop it. And a good deployment system is crucial.

[CousinNedNedCousin]

This was a really good idea... The group from our team overcomplicated this whole process so it wasn't until we were at competition that we actually came up with a design. Hope this served you well!

[SqwishSqwash]

did you fail biology?

[kaleishigaki]

I agree that LEGOs are very cool. (:

And I'm suprised a lot of people cannot spell "allowed" correctly, oh well. :D We're science people, not English.

But this idea is pretty good, simple, but it works pretty well.

How did your team end up making the minibot, though? Like did they go with your idea for the minibot's design, or was there something else that happened and descided not to go with this one idea?

[SentryGun53]

@kaleishigaki

due to the design inflexibility of the tetrix parts, we are trying some other methods

[kaleishigaki]

@SentryGun53

Ah, I see.

I liked Cheesy Poof's minibot, it was compact, simple, but very fast and efficient.

[kristyrocks1]

nice idea, but it is too bad that you can't use that battery...

[forrest225]

Pretty sure everybody competing in FRC would think legos are cool :)

[frederederfilms22]

Wow, this is a good idea but I dont think that the pole in the game will be magnetic.

[SentryGun53]

@frederederfilms22

It will be magnetic, it's galvanized steel EMT (electrical conduit).

[scubasteve339]

hey im a member of 3511 are you aloud to use that motor and battery? cause last time i was informed (which may have been misinformation) we had to use the motors and battery they gave us..........

[SentryGun53]

@scubasteve339 You are right, we can't use anything but the listed Tetrix parts :-(.

This minibot was just a proof-of concept, not meant to actually use in competition.

[mattboy909]

I don't think magnets are aloud

[SentryGun53]

@mattboy909 They are allowed. Check the last item on the allowed minibot materials.

[SquidMan64]

Wow! That's brilliant!

[stuntmansuff]

i believe it can only be made out of tetrix parts which stinks because its only seems that tetrix only wants to go 90 and 45 degrees- team 3260

[metalskatertv]

This is a pretty good idea but the fact still reamains that you need to attach the lego brick to the mini bot I hope to see you at the competition. Good Luck.

[alishajaner]

I love your idea! I am part of the Tri-Cities team. We are the only team ever to do this from the Tri-Cities, so we have no idea what we are doing.

[SentryGun53]

@alishajaner Well good luck then, hope you do well!

[x3323x]

We tried the same idea with magnets in the beginning, but with the fact that the FTC kit is required makes it much more difficult of a feat. You almost made us feel worthless, we thought at first that if wee could use Lego parts everything we were messing with was worthless.

[SentryGun53]

@x3323x Yeah I agree, the FTC kit is difficult to work with. What particularly annoys us is that there isn't any way to turn a moving axle 90 degrees - which would allow the minibot to cling to the pole with 2 wheels, 90 degrees apart.

Good luck anyhow!

[mst3k0196]

so have you made a tetrix prototype yet? I'd love to see that work

[iloveFLL]

OMG!! it very nice idea!!!

[2545RoboticsCHHS]

2545 team is making the Minibot with the same way as this Vid using magnet.

[Bricksniper]

Lego sells smaller tetrix wheels that are 3" diameter instead of 4" that might help you guys out too

[Bricksniper]

That is a very simple yet very cool design. My design is a bit more complicated but that is very awesome! Keep up the good work

~team 2051

[SentryGun53]

Well, our team has been doing some experimentation with our new Tetrix kit.

The wheels sure are huge! And we already got one smoke puff from a motor... whoops!

Regarding magnets: luckily, the Tetrix structural components are mostly aluminum, so strong magnets shouldn't stick where they aren't wanted.

But, the hostbot and deployment mechanism will have to be carefully constructed to avoid the minibot sticking to it!

Nice to hear the feedback, and good luck everybody.

[BlackHawk32495]

Cool team 2170, im on team 2171. My team was considering magnets but having magnets anywhere close to a C-Rio would be pretty dangerous

[SentryGun53]

@BlackHawk32495

Good point, but I think the C-Rio has flash memory - so you don't have to worry about scrambling a hard drive with the magnets.

[BlackHawk32495]

Cool team 2170, im on team 2171

[BlackHawk32495]

Cool team 2170, im on team 2171

[claytybob]

Pretty slick, the wheels we got in the FTC kit-o-parts are huge compared to those, so some redesign would be required. Magnets seem to be allowed, and we were brainstorming on where to put them as well. It seems like, from some internal tests, getting up the pole fast is not so much the design problem as getting the robot on the securely fast.

-- Clayton (FIRST [Dean's Homework guys!] FRC Team #45 - Technokats)

[Akoplewitz]

cool! it goes really fast! my question is- will it go as fast (if it will) when the battery is on it?

(hope the test in biology went well. =])

[macho844]

did u guys see the weels(if u got mini bot kit) THERE HUGE!

[boarder3512]

My team (1716) is also thinking about using magnets and the wheels in a slightly different orientation for the minibot. I was surprised to see that thing zip up the pole like it did with that little lego motor. It is very encouraging for my team. Keep up the good work and good luck this build season!

[spartenforver]

This is a neat idea. Best of luck with it

-team 3167

[ostapslobodian]

Check the manual

[ostapslobodian]

You're allowed magnets but I believe the rest has to be FTC parts, so no things like wood or tape.

[SentryGun53]

@ostapslobodian Yes, this is just a proof-of-concept to show how magnets can be used to climb the pole. I'm sure LEGO wheels and gears aren't allowed either.

[Scorpia260]

Bob, This is awesome! I'm glad that you took the time to do this. I hope that everyone else gets to see this, but make sure to demonstrate it on Tuesday. Magnets were a big idea and this gives them a strong backing.

Also, I agree, LEGOs Are Cool.

-David

[vgjj777]

THAT'S SICK. You can adjust the wheels so that it works on any pole, right?

2:13 made me laugh

[SentryGun53]

@vgjj777 Yeah. for a 1-3/4 inch pole that will be used in the actual competition, larger wheels or a different wheel position would be needed.