Loop Orientation

I have had a lot of email about this and will have an update soon. One thing I would like to clear up that has been asked a lot is that the loops will be turned only in 45 degree increments. There won't be any strange angles.

James Isom
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Contest Administrator
MoonBots
A Google Lunar X PRIZE LEGO MINDSTORMS Challenge

Sorry about that. I would say that it might be on my end, but Macs don't break...(that whole iPhone4 mess is in your imagination)
Either way, please don't spend to much time on it. Just as long as it works for you guys and the judges, my ability to watch is not really significant.

Hi Will,
I'm not sure why you can't hear the audio on our blogs, we have not heard anyone else having problems hearing it. I will check into it. Thanks.

I agree. By not answering the question about the orientation of the rings, actually answers our question. I have to admit, it really adds difficulty to accomplishing the mission. I think we are now on our fifth arm prototype, as soon as it is finished we will begin testing. Regardless, it looks cool.

For some reason, I don't think it is made entirely of Legos or Lego affiliated products. You should put a Lego StarWars shirt over the 'arm'. That way, a Lego Product is getting the loops. Nice.
Maybe the judges were being purposely vague, just to see what the teams came up with. That seems to be the theme with the rules.

We have been working hard to design an arm for our robot that will pick up the loops no matter of the orientation. Check out what we came up with, it works every time. Do you think it is legal?
Enjoy your day and thanks for setting up this forum!
Team Just Ducky
http://justducky-bytheway.blogspot.com/

I don't think many teams know about the orientation. It was only posted on the FAQ, not the actual rules. Many teams seem to be dependent on a single possibility for alignment in their retrieving designs.
-jess223

From FAQ

Are the Water Ice and Helium 3 elements precisely placed on the lunar landscape?

Yes. However, their orientation (which way the loop is facing) is not. This will be announced shortly before Phase II judging begins.

I was thinking that maybe the Challenge Blueprint counted as that announcement and that they were to be oriented as in the blueprint. If not, please say more... I agree with the LegoAces on this that it is a very important question.

Jamie

This sure is an awesome set of Legos! Looks like a real challenge to make a rover to get around on these plates and fetch all the H2O and Helium-3. The orientation of the loops might have a significant impact on how you can grab them. The FAQ mentions that the orientation of the loops might be announced “shortly” before the judging begins. It would be nice if someone could elaborate a bit on what the intentions are here? If the orientation is not known until just a few minutes before the judging starts, it has one implication on the design of the loop grabber. If the team has a couple of days “shortly” before the judging to tune things into a specific loop orientation, it has different design implications. In one case the implement truly needs to be able to pick them up in whatever orientation, in the other, programming or path planning might be used to grab the loops form a specific direction. Can we know anything about the possible orientations? Will the loops be 0 or 90 degrees to a wall, or might they be oriented at any odd angle? We've got some ideas to deal with either situation, but want to test based on how it will actually be in the webcast.

Have fun!

the LegoAces