Experience This

S&T's world-ranked Formula SAE team probably has the most grueling competition series of any U.S., or for that matter, foreign team. They are literally racing coast-to-coast for 2009, winning the Virginia warm-up race and taking 6th at the world event in Michigan. They even sandwiched a valuable trip to team sponsor's Goodyear Akron test facility after the grueling northern trip. Their goal was now to win the FSAE season finale near Los Angeles and wrap up the Miners' best season ever. This is not just a case of shifting the well-trained crew from race to race; it is summertime and not every student who worked the previous races is available. Some have summer jobs, a few are taking classes, and others have even graduated so the team isn't playing with a full deck (so to speak) :)

Anyway, after overcoming some highway drama en route (see previous story), S&T Racing started the event in fine style by sailing through tech inspection with no issues, then winning the skid pad event for the first time ever. The skid pad is a very tight figure-eight course run one direction then the other. It is a timed test to determining how fast and effectively a car can make it through the kind of demanding turns drivers will encounter in both the autocross and endurance courses.

While waiting to start the autocross event, team leader Aaron Young called in to say the Miners made the design semifinals for the third time this year, a very consistent showing. As it turns out only two teams (usually it is 4 or 5 crews) made the finals and S&T was unfortunately not in that elite pairing.

By that time perennial racing power Rochester Institute of Technology, which placed very high at the Michigan races, had established themselves as the leader. Going into the all-important endurance race RTI held a 40 point lead over the Miners, with the other 96% of the teams so far behind as to be barely on the radar. There would be no way to tell if an RTI miscue and another miraculous driving effort like we saw from Andrew D'Hooge and D.J. Quint in Michigan last month could rally the Miners to their best-ever racing season.

In what amounted to a two-car race RTI and S&T performed extremely well but in one of those cruel twists of fate a sheared bolt doomed to the Miners to a DNF (did not finish) in the all-important endurance race. The endurance race requires each team to pit their car for a driver change and equalize any advantage one particularly skilled driver might hold, as well as to make sure fresh drivers are on course at all times. When S&T's car
came into the pits all was going well. The driver swap went quickly but just as Rolla tried to pull back onto the course a steering bolt failed and made the car undriveable, eliminating any chance to win the day.

Ironically this may have been the result of the Miners' exceptional performance for 2009. The car was road ready earlier than usual so S&T had time to train to an extraordinary degree, practicing with the car several times a week. It takes a lot of asphalt to practice autocross racing, so Rolla's K-Mart, Lowe's and even the Waynesville High School parking lots became "tracks for a day", except that "tracks for a night" would be more accurate because much of that testing took place around midnight.

It may have been that ambitious testing regimen that led to the car's demise. Per SAE rules these teams build a new car each year and sell, scrap or retire their cars tp training vehicles. In short, the cars have a design life cycle of only one season and S&T's car came up short by maybe 15 minutes. We've reported the Miners "thrashed" their car to a spectacular endurance race finish in Michigan, and that was the norm for S&T Racing this year. They pushed that car to its best through months of practice, training their drivers to razor's edge perfection and setting a new benchmark of team organization and performance. They continued that remarkable pace through at least two trips to professional testing facilities, three major races, and perhaps surprisingly, numerous public relations and recruiting outreach events. All of that work may have edged the flashy car just minutes past its design limit.

And while their official SAE racing season is over, the learning opportunities continue. Most of the team is remaining an extra day in California to take in some seminars to help them now, next season, and throughout their professional careers in years to come.

Now THAT'S an S&T education.

The spring '09 competition season has all but wound down, with only S&T's highly-regarded Formula SAE team still on the road. Literally.

The Miners left early Monday morning for their third top-level race of the year and just as they crossed the California state line the automotive pit crew ran into some trouble on the highway. An out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-kind-of-highway.

First, they started getting the dreaded "check engine" light, followed by an intermittent light that indicated a battery problem. Then the truck started to slow (did we mention they are pulling a 28-ft racing trailer?) and finally ground to a complete halt on the shoulder about "a hundred miles from nowhere", according to team leader Aaron Young.

The team's best guess was a bad alternator, but they had some extra batteries on hand that they hoped would get them to an auto parts shop. That apparently didn't work so they stole a page from (extremely resourceful secret agent) Angus MacGyver's play book.

We probably wouldn't post any photos even if we had them, but imagine this:

Put the team's generator in the truck bed.
Run a 110v extension cord toward the front of the truck.
Plug in a battery charger.
Connect the charger to the battery.
Start the truck.
Drive all the way to the race track at Fontana, California.
Check into the hotel.
Go find an auto parts store and buy an alternator.

Is this the world's first one-ton Ford hybrid diesel pick-up truck?

If they can handle this situation with such panache then handling any track-side breakdowns won't even justify a second glance.

More reports from Cali as the week goes on.

Isn't technology wonderful? All power on the site is now down. Not because of lighting or high winds, but because the huge generator shot craps and started to smoke. All displays are down so there is no way to report any scoring.

On the field of battle they tell us that approximately 30 teams (out of 50+) have qualified. Of those 30 teams only ten have made it as far as half-way through the course. Of those ten, one robot has made it as far as 80% of the course.

None, zero, zilch, nada, completed the course. You could say thirty teams are tied for 1st place and the Miners, who have finally run out of time, are tied with twenty other schools for 2nd.

See you back in Rolla.

We spoke yesterday about how the Robotics Team completed their competition vehicle early enough to do extensive testing, and that was certainly the case. You'd think that weeks or months of testing would result in a competition-ready robot, but we are only two hours before the competition ends and Aluminator is still not behaving properly. The S&T crew just came back from the test track where the 'bot simply turned in circles. When pressed for an explanation the team admitted that the AI system had been properly tested on a simulation program that, uh, wasn't the same software program used on the actual robot. To make matters worse, the student who wrote and tested the program wasn't able to attend the IGVC so our code-writers are desperately trying to develop "work arounds". They still hold out hope that they'll qualify by the "skin of their teeth" and get a run at the competition course but even if Aluminator gets a good run today we won't know the final event standings until some days or weeks later.

Stay tuned for late reports.

The Miners are coming down to the wire in writing code changes at the annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition here in the Detroit suburbs. Richard Allen is leading the frenzied effort to get the machine "thinking" on its own. One student said that on sunny days the sensors would easily recognize the white lines, but when the robot approached the plywood bridges the painted platform would reflect too much light which Aluminator would then recognize as distracting spots, so some code had to be re-written to solve that problem.

On this slope Aluminator had no trouble recognizing the lines but wet conditions caused the tires to lose traction on the ramp, partly because the trailing rear wheel was getting caught on the ramp's edge. It took the 'bot several running starts to clear the ramp edge and drive over the bridge.

The Miners have the robot back in the barn while they attempt to work out the last bugs.
In the meantime most teams' work is done and there is little to do when your robot is not on the course. Here are a few ways that students pass the time:

A second round of heavy rain is sweeping through the competition "polo" grounds but the robots continue to motor on. Tarps, umbrellas, and other forms of waterproofing are being pressed into service to keep the projects dry. We haven't seen any "magic blue smoke" yet rising from machines, but it's still early.

In the meantime Missouri S&T has been recognized by the judges for "donating" their great-looking tent to the robot starting line, where teams whose machines are on the course can watch in a degree of comfort. Aluminator is still under the "big top" while the Miners are still trying to resolve some code issues. This is an all-day event so there is still optimism for getting the machine on the course.

Imagine this scenario..........hundreds of thousands of dollar of high-tech equipment, 50+ robots in an open field that all have metal masts sticking up in the air, you are working in huge tent with great big metal support poles, and you are surrounded by thunder, lightning, and pouring rain.

Do they stop the competition?? NAH!!! We got the NAVY out here!! They can't be afraid of a little water, can they?

Disclaimer: We make fun of the Navy, but this writer's nephew graduated from the Naval Academy last month, was the starting goalie for the USNA's lacrosse team, and won the Academy's prestigious Thompson Trophy here

Way to go, Tommy!!

Sorry, we couldn't resist. "Mr. Transformer" is back again for the third year in a row and this time he has brought along one of his relatives.

Getting back to reality, we're getting a few raindrops so teams are mounting umbrellas and tarps over their valuable projects. Senator Carl Levin is addressing the opening ceremonies and recognizing the efforts of these 50+ teams in advancing the technology that will save lives of those who protect our nation and help the U.S. economy recover.

Rain threatens, and the lane markers painted on the ground are water-based. This could be like herding cats tomorrow..................

Aluminator's sensors are having a little trouble picking up the white lines painted on the ground, and today's cloud cover has cut the contrast between the grass and the lines so that has been a problem. We saw a few paint buckets on the sidelines late today but it's not clear if we'll get a new paint job or not. Even if we do rain threatens most of tomorrow (in fact it is sprinkling right now) so the lines might not even exist by the time S&T's Aluminator hits the course. Wonder how you score a machine's performance between the lines when there are no lines to see?

For some reason our Miners didn't get to qualify on the test track today before the practice area was shut down. They'll have to get an early start and hope their veteran chassis will remain water tight in the bad weather and its stereo camera systems (on the right, with the cool sunglasses) won't pick up any distracting water droplets.

Here are some shots that show the ups and downs of student-built autonomous robots: Wisconsin's machine seemed to handle the first practice obstacles with aplomb, as its jubilant crew clearly shows. Just minutes later the same crew was..........well, you can figure out from their expressions........................encountering a radically different situation just twenty yards past their bridge success.

If last year was any indication these little "aberrations" will be far more common than teams would wish. Successfully navigating one obstacle is no guarantee of future success; each new turn, ramp, switchback or construction barrel is a whole new world to these machines; a source of great tension for the builders and great entertainment (or high comedy) for the spectators. Any robot that goes as far as half way through the course creates a real buzz in the crowd; people start whispering "Could this one make it?" Could this really be the one?" And the farther the machine goes, the more the crowd reacts so you can pretty much figure that not many machines make it through the entire course.

And we haven't even covered the potential havoc that getting rain inside your circuit boards could cause.

Lastly, we mentioned that Aluminator's motor control problems have been fixed. Here are two examples of how much low-end torque S&T's machine now has, courtesy of Mike Chrisco here and Robert Adams here.

Who says you can't have a little fun at these events?

The S&T Robotics Competition team has been moving well through the qualifying events so far. Yesterday the 'bot builders did a great job on the design event, an oral briefing on all aspects of the machine's design, and today they plan to qualify Aluminator's mechanical systems on the practice course. The important issue was not just that they did a great briefing job, but it proves they had completed the robot early enough in the design year to test its systems, work out most of the bugs, and above all, repeatedly rehearse their presentation until they knew it forward and backward. Chris Vincent tells us the judges were quite impressed by the machine's well-organized system layout and circuitry as well as a short video clip that proved the design's power and robustness.

While the Miners were disappointed that they didn't make the design finals* after a very polished delivery (only 5 or 6 out of 50+ teams made it to finals) they think they have a good shot at a top-10 finish in that category, which (with a tip o' the hat to St. Pat) would be one of their best ever ranking.

Last year's motor controller problems seem to have been solved. Some months ago the 'bot builders realized Aluminator's motor controllers were undersized for the drive motors' amperage requirements so they upgraded the controllers. Now the beefed-up system is quite capable of throwing its own weight around, and will do fine regardless of the weather.

There are a lot of different design ideas from which to draw inspiration at these events. Last year the Miners were enthralled by a tank-tread design that really seemed like a cool idea. While some more experienced (meaning old) observers thought it was a Rube-Goldberg approach that added risk and didn't significantly improve on Aluminator's 2008 mechanical systems, the Robo-Miners were all fired up and ready to re-invent the wheel. Ignoring the fact that the crew struggled with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) design last year (think robotic Alzheimers; all dressed up and no idea where it was going) the ME side of the team was determined to have a robotic tank.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed during the design year so the Miners opted to retain Aluminator's basic platform and concentrate on more critical autonomous guidance systems. That has already paid off because the Miners mechanics are largely sitting on their hands so far today. That is NOT to say they weren't busy overnight or that problems won't yet surface, but all seems quiet right now. Better to be rehearsing your design presentation than yelling about a missing wrench or broken motor controller, eh?
Generally these machines use electricity for their motive power. Nearly every vehicle uses batteries for stored power but some teams use gas generators towed behind the robot to charge the power packs. One team has a kid's-sized ATV controlled (at least we hope so) by computer and rumor has it that a California team even has a hydrogen fuel cell. The "Ecole de Technologie Superieure team out of Montreal (right) clearly has everyone beat with a great fuel sponsorship deal.

Meanwhile a FIRST Robotics exhibition in the background (left) is lending a circus atmosphere to the goings-on. The college teams have been busy catching up on rest, repairing drive systems, and writing code (ESPECIALLY writing code) while the FIRST teams have been cheering wildly through a series of double-elimination matches If you've never been to a FIRST event, think amazingly complex technical wizardry mixed with a rock concert atmosphere, and a touch of professional wrestling (you know, the stupid fake stuff) thrown in for a little spice.

The students at the annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle event are a courteous, trusting and TRUSTWORTHY** bunch. The "pits" consist of a nearly 200' ft long tent crammed with tables and chairs, and power tools, cameras and above all, laptop computers are everywhere. Need to take your robot out to practice? No problem! Need to take a nap? Go for it! You could leave your equipment unattended all day long and no one would dream of disturbing your gear. If you are trying to take a photo of the field operations people will either stop while you shoot or walk around BEHIND you rather than risk bothering you. That's really special!

Lastly, we can always count of S&T alums to support their educational descendents. Last night a loyal group of MSM/UMR/S&T alums treated the team to dinner and offered the kind of moral support that keeps these teams motivated. The hosts learned about the robot, the team's design strategy, and how they were enjoying the Michigan weather. In response to the students' feedback S&T alum Don Statler (CE '56 ) showed up early this morning with a climatic C.A.R.E package that he and his wife Dee put together, a shopping bag full of sweatshirts to help keep the Miners warm during their all-night shifts working on Aluminator, 'cause it was kind of chilly at 5:00 a.m. in a big tent.

*We're normally loathe to point fingers (to do so we'd have to identify the team) but we understand one top design finalist student (ahem!) design team had their professor make their design presentation. What kind of learning opportunity do you get if you can't put your ideas forward as your best work? Hmmm, or IS it your best work..........?
We imagine that any S&T design team advisor who wanted to be the spokesman would politely be told "No, thank you" by the students. If that didn't work it's even money that the team would become more insistent. If that STILL didn't work there's always old reliable duct tape.........

**We'd say all the participants were all good Boy Scouts (trustworthy, loyal, helpful, etc,) but there are quite a few female team members on the teams; one young lady is even wearing blazing pink stiletto heels. Did we mention the tent has a dirt floor?