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[DPRG] Roborama 2008a
Subject: [DPRG] Roborama 2008a
From: Dean Hall
dwhall256 at gmail.com
Date: Mon May 12 14:03:37 CDT 2008
I was a little disappointed in myself that the Roborama 2008a had
arrived and I had not been able to reach the goals I set for myself.
Argonaut has a lot more potential than I have been able to unleash to
date... and one of these days I'll prove it.
The first difference between 2008a and the last Roborama I attended
(2000b, I think) was the people. There were fewer people
participating, but that seemed to allow everyone to open up a little
more. Or maybe it was the fact that Eric Sumner had made the trip to
Houston for the DryRun and so I knew at least one face. Regardless,
I felt welcome to plug into a power outlet and start programming
despite being a stranger.
The second thing I noticed was the diversity of design. I don't
think there were two vehicles that were even close in appearance.
Such diversity is good if you believe hobby robotics will grow and
improve in the manner of an evolutionary algorithm. But it also
means there's plenty to talk about, learn from and see in action. So
by the time of the outdoor competition, I had already met a few of
the DPRGers I've been emailing; moreover, I was already having fun
seeing others compete.
Argonaut's algorithm to perform the "Out and back" was written the
day of the competition. The value I used for distance (2500 encoder
ticks was an estimation based on 676 being "5 feet too far for the
16' indoor course). Had I done the math right, 3200 would have been
the proper choice of ticks. Argonaut had lousy steering during ORC
practice and even lost a wheel after meeting a curb. Yet when dpa
called my name for competition time, Argonaut put on his "serious
face" and rolled straighter and at a better controlled speed than he
had all day. I was quite happy with 4th place. I think I learned
that coming out and performing is more fun than staying at home to
test/fix/repeat.
I deeply appreciate the effort the various members of DPRG put in to
make that day a good one. I hope dpa has recovered; or did we leave
him lying in the parking lot all night until jBot decided to drive
him home? I also want to thank DPRG on behalf of the members of the
Society of Houston Area Robotics Projects (SHARP); the prizes I was
awarded will make a nice start to SHARP's technical library.
!!Dean
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