Ready, Set, Robonauts! Space Cowboys Break Records
This is part II of a Roundup Reads series, Ready, Set, Robonauts!
NASA Johnson Space Center’s in-house team, The Robonauts, competed in their first competition of the season from March 7-8 in Plano, Texas.
The 2020 game, “Infinite Recharge,” sponsored by “Star Wars,” requires students to build a robot that can complete some, or all, of the following tasks:
- Shoot balls, or "power cells," into the holes, or "power ports."
- Rotate a "control panel" to stop on a required color, or to a specified number of spins.
- Climb, hang or balance on a bar with robots on your alliance.
Also evaluated were capabilities of the controlled robots to be quick, play defense when required and implement proper strategy to maximize each alliance’s score while minimizing technical fouls.
To learn more about the 2020 FIRST Robotics Competition game, click here to watch Infinite Recharge.
During competitions, teams play in a series of qualification matches with a randomly selected list of alliance partners. In between competitions, students and mentors troubleshoot, tinker and work to improve their builds in the pit, a designated area with needed tools.
Upon arrival at the event, The Robonauts discovered what could be a fatal issue with their robot: an apparent avionics concern causing the robot to disconnect.
“These electrical ghost issues are very difficult to troubleshoot; it’s almost easier to build a whole new robot than try to fix it on this robot,” said alumni-turned-mentor Ryan Stockton. “The CAN (Controlled Area Network) Bus was dropping out, causing uncertainty about the fate of the competition. The team suspected this was caused by a hardware fault with either the wires or connectors in multiple places. Because of the complexity of the problem and time constraints, the easiest way to solve this was to replace all the CAN Bus wires in the robot.”
The Robonauts set out for their first qualification match, which can be watched here, uncertain if the robot would be able to shoot balls or even move. Amazingly, the team came out on top with a win and a final score of 104-40.
The Robonauts continued on in their next two qualification matches, working tirelessly to troubleshoot through the CAN Bus wiring problem. They decided that the best option was to completely strip and rewire the wires connecting all the motor controllers together, which send signals between them and the roborio, the robot’s “flight computer.” All of this needed to be done before their next match — a task not only meticulous, but time-consuming. It was crisis mode in the pit, but the students and mentors were up for the challenge. After rewiring the CAN bus, they set out for their fourth qualification match, coming out on top with a 126-62 lead.
Once all qualification matches are complete, alliance selection begins. The Robonauts (118) ended the qualification matches in third place and were selected by the number-one-seeded team, The Robowranglers (148) from Greenville, Texas. The third selected alliance partner was team Sunset RoboBison (7719) from Dallas, Texas. The Robonauts and Robowranglers, having teamed up before, affectionately refer to themselves as “Space Cowboys” when joined as partners.
To win the event, teams must make it through quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The Space Cowboys proved to be an unstoppable force, coming out of quarterfinals with final scores of 252-49 and 252-35.
Teams 118,148 and 7719 finished quarter one, match two with the first-ever-completed “Stage 3,” meaning that they successfully used the color wheel. The Robonauts spinner mechanism became the first to complete Stage 3 in the world.
After powering through semi-finals and, at last, making it to finals, the self-proclaimed Space Cowboys had to win two matches to come out with the win. They clutched the first match and, during the second, set the new world record for highest score at 263 points, without penalties.
In addition to the event win, The Robonauts won the Autonomous award, sponsored by Ford.
The Autonomous award, as defined by FIRST, is based on the performance of the robot’s autonomous (non-operator-guided) operations during matches. Consistent and reliable operation is weighted more heavily than the ability to score maximum points during any specific autonomously managed actions.
From breaking records to coming out with the district event win, it’s obvious that this was not the Space Cowboy’s first rodeo.
As of March 12, FIRST has canceled the 2020 season, including both World Championships. Although The Robonauts will not get to show Mobius off at the championships, it’s clear that their 2020 robot was show stopping, record breaking and inspiring to all in the educational robotics community.
Click here to read more about the
COVID-19 impact on FIRST events (updated March 12, 2020).