I had a heck of a time pulling it together in the final days before the competition with a nerve-wrecking mix of failure and triumph. Ah good times! :D
- Pictures and narrative here
- More about Data Bus
Summary is... I kept running into troubles with heading estimation and heading control in the days prior and things were looking mighty grim. I implemented a few changes and Thursday night went down to SFE for covert, cover-of-darkness testing. To my elation, the fixes worked beautifully and the robot consistently held to its path at faster and faster speeds. I quit while I was ahead with a top speed of 9m/s and time around the building of about 36 seconds.
On Saturday I was feeling pretty good about things, but nervous as all get-out. To my horror, on the first run, the robot did an exact repeat of its embarrasing 2011 performance: it veered right and crashed into the SFE building! I implemented a "fix" for heat 2, discovered a problem with one of the wheel encoders, hammered the front bumper back into shape, and... the robot took off, turned left and headed for the crowd! What a disappointment after the towering success I had Thursday night. I undid my "fix", took the advice of a wiser soul than me (Team Daisy Chain, Ted), and ran the robot slow off the ramp and put the hammer down after a second... I sacrificed myself to save my robot...
And was overjoyed to witness the little bus shoot out from the 4th turn, head for the finish line at top speed and ...
I was just happy the thing finally made it around like it did before. Then in addition to proffering of medical supplies for my ankle, I was informed Data Bus time put it ... in 3rd place! I would've danced up and down... but for the ankle :D Very very happy.
Congrats to team 0x27 for 1st, team Minuteman for 2nd not to mention brilliant MacGuyver style repair action! And congrats to all who competed: no small feat, whether your robot started up, crashed, finished, whatever. And humongo kudos to Sparkfun for a truly awesome event, best every by far!
Results
| Team | Raw(s) | Official |
| 0x27 | 32.02 | 2.02 |
| Minuteman | 39.46 | 9.46 |
| Data Bus | 37.16 | 37.16 |
Comments
Maybe the solution would be to have this same test run again as a "qualifying round". Then the top teams can move up to a harder test.
Yes, that's what I mean. The problem right now is that the top teams will just go for crazy speeds now.
Thanks all!
I agree that I'd like to see less speed and more obstacle.
With times < 40sec this year, following the trend the last couple years, we'll be seeing 35mph average speeds next year. Eek!
Ah, I saw your little bus on the weekend. Pretty good result really! The #1 and #2 cars were incredibly quick.
I think the competition is much more difficult than it appears. Really very few people get completely around the course. More than 50% don't make the first corner.
The other big challenge is all the other competitors on the course which must cause troubles for poeple who have implemented object avoidance.
Who knows, maybe I'll try a ground vehicle next year too.
Personally, I'd like to see the Rover course be much more complicated for next year. It seems that it's simple enough right now that it's basically coming down to a top speed competition. Almost like watching NASCAR. I'd like to see a larger, more circuitous course, or more challenging terrain and/or obstacles.
I guess Sparkfun has to find the balance between pushing the limits, while still keeping it within the range of their customers.
Great writeup! I was there mostly for the air vehicle competitions, but after seeing the rovers in action, 3DR will probably be entering with a ground vehicle next year :)