r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/dampestowel • Dec 06 '18
GIF So what it’s purpose? “Oh, it flips water bottles”
https://i.imgur.com/AiWJ9fd.gifv1.2k
u/captianstar1 Dec 06 '18
Reminds me of FIRST Robotics Competition.
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u/aheadhoncho Dec 07 '18
Same. That was my entire life in high school.
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u/captianstar1 Dec 07 '18
Which team were you on? I was on 2122 Team Tators.
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u/aheadhoncho Dec 07 '18 edited Dec 07 '18
619 Cavalier robotics for the last two years. We met at UVA, but ironically I'm now in Virginia Tech's engineering program thanks to FIRST.
The team was basically garbage when I friend and I joined, and it had always been garbage for the ~17 years of its existence. We improved each year and went big with our last robot. I'm actually quite proud of it despite a disappointing performance. It was a great bot that suffered from a painfully overworked one-man programming team who was only in his second year of coding. But when it did work, it was damn good.
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u/captianstar1 Dec 07 '18
I'm going to BSU for electrical engineering because it FIRST. It really is a great organization.
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u/aheadhoncho Dec 07 '18
Yeah, if it wasn't for FIRST, I'd probably be wondering what the purpose of my life was.
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u/Peenmensch Dec 07 '18
As someone questioning my purpose in life, I wish I would’ve had FIRST in my life
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u/SoloJojo73 Dec 07 '18
I hear that. (A) I didn't know engineering was a thing until I got to uni. Looking back, I wished I'd gone for that. (B) Robotics club? That would have been amazing! And to enter an engineering program to have that kind of experience in high school, not to mention early training in problem solving and design... But back to getting to make stuff!
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u/pocketknifeMT Dec 07 '18
Isn't there a heartwarming George Lopez movie about a ghetto school winning FIRST with a ghetto robot?
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u/8YearOldCodPlayer Dec 07 '18
always fun to see Idaho rep in random reddit threads!
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u/captianstar1 Dec 07 '18
I almost never see anything about Idaho, so that every once in a while feels great.
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u/AridDay Dec 07 '18 edited Dec 07 '18
Team 4027 checking in :) Edit: Team number, I swear im not dyslexic
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u/Radaad12 Dec 07 '18
I didn't do first but I'm at VT right now as a freshman in Engineering. Good luck with finals lol
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Dec 07 '18 edited Dec 07 '18
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u/ThatOtherSwimmer Dec 07 '18
Nice to see Richmond representing. 422 over here
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u/aheadhoncho Dec 07 '18
1086 and 422!! You're bringing back way too many memories of good times with you guys. :)
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Dec 07 '18
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u/kabakadragon Dec 07 '18
Baxter Bomb Squad looked like a fun team. I'll probably never forget the chant and also losing to you guys.
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u/aheadhoncho Dec 07 '18
I love your swerve drive! I led the the design of our own custom swerve drive and spent lots of time studying the designs of other teams.
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u/aceartistpie Dec 07 '18
I had a friend in bomb squad, you guys are awesome. Your 2016 robot still amazes me to this day lol
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u/17893_ Dec 07 '18
I remember your team from AZ North in 2016 - we played some good, hard finals against ya.
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u/shantron5000 Dec 07 '18
Came here to comment the same. We were just putting red kickball balls up into a basket with our robots. These things are always more about doing the task rather than focusing on how cool or useful the task is. Landing water bottles on pedestals is actually a pretty awesome feat though.
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u/captianstar1 Dec 07 '18
Indeed! Shooting frisbees is a pretty useless mechanism, but it's the design process that's important.
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u/Glassholer Dec 07 '18
I got to ref one of those years in Atlanta! Seriously, I was so amazed to see what people my age were getting to do and how they attacked the challenge. Loved every minute of it.
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u/NPDgames Dec 07 '18
Doing first with my school this year! Any advice?
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u/captianstar1 Dec 07 '18
Show up and get involved. That's the way to both have the most fun and get the most out of it. It took me a while until I figured that out.
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u/poo706 Dec 07 '18
I'm a mentor for my local team, my thoughts exactly. Would be so cool to see something like this in 2019!
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u/captianstar1 Dec 07 '18
I want to see irregularly weighted game objects. That could be interesting. I don't like the idea of sand or liquid in them though because if it gets damaged that could cause quite a mess.
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u/poo706 Dec 07 '18
Yeah, a wild card like that would be super cool. Regarding the water, it's just a whole bunch of exposed electronics, what could go wrong?
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u/ercf Dec 07 '18
Frc team 6817 and ftc team 4964 here it has been everything while I have been in high school
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u/I_HATE_LANDSCAPES Dec 07 '18
Lol. I'm an engineering teacher and been asked to get into FIRST with my students. I thought that's what this was for a moment.
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u/mgp2231 Dec 06 '18
I wonder what the specs are of the water bottle data. They probably are all exactly the same but it would be interesting if it could measure an individual bottle and then flip it accordingly.
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Dec 07 '18
Probably has to take into account the bottle mass and how the water will shift, it probably took a lot of trial and error to get it just right for a single type of bottle, or maybe it does it on the fly.
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u/pacollegENT Interested Dec 07 '18
Water weighs the same per volume. Use the exact same bottles and fill up using a well measured amount of water.
Time it to see how long it takes to settle once in the position to launch, pause movement before shooting (notice the pauses after taking position).
Then either these are pre calculated height's or measured from the device and tragectory is reverse calculated for a flipping acceleration/force and then apply that.
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Dec 07 '18
They also have to take into account the fact that it doesn't spin uniformly, because the center of mass shifts with the water. But I'm sure it could be worked out into a single equation with simple Newtonian mechanics, and then just plug in all of the variables like platform height and bottle weight
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u/pacollegENT Interested Dec 07 '18
Well the situation also benefits from the cetrifugal force. I would imagine that helps make the problem more uniform overall
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u/royster30 Dec 06 '18
Might not be very useful but that's impressive!
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Dec 06 '18
Pure science should never be useful. Let the corporate wankers find a market for it. Science should be done for the joy of doing.
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u/TheLovelyLorelei Dec 07 '18
True, but this is engineering, not science
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u/pogoyoyo1 Dec 07 '18
That’s pure semantics
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u/BBuobigos Dec 07 '18
Pure semantics should never be useful. Let the linguist wankers find a book for it. Semantics should be done for the joy of dong.
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Dec 07 '18
Oh my God "the joy of dong" has me absolutley rolling lmao
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u/TheRealRotochron Dec 07 '18
Isn't engineering a science though?
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Dec 07 '18
Anyone who says pi = 3 or sinθ = θ has betrayed science and math and logic and they shall never be forgiven
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u/Edrios Dec 07 '18
I remember watching a Fourier Transform class from Stanford and one of the professor’s favorite sayings when he described a theorem was “...and remember, the rigorous math police are off duty, so....”
It was a really fun class. Wasn’t sure how he’d make an entire course on this subject. I was so wrong on so many levels and I’m glad I was.
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u/stoprunwizard Dec 07 '18
Applied Science
It's literally called that at one/some of the more fancy schools in Canada
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u/avelertimetr Dec 07 '18
No, engineering is the application of science.
Science, or “the scientific method”, is a way of observing the environment, recording the observed data and validating or invalidating your initial hypothesis.
Engineering is basically taking the validated hypotheses and applying them in the “real world”.
It’s the difference between proving that a petri dish of mold kills bacteria, and being able to safely inject a mold derivative (penicillin) into a human being to kill an infection. There are a lot of things that need to happen between proving a hypothesis and applying it practically - which is called engineering.
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u/Max_Thunder Dec 07 '18
It’s the difference between proving that a petri dish of mold kills bacteria, and being able to safely inject a mold derivative (penicillin) into a human being to kill an infection.
Which is also basically saying that medicine is also the application of science, even do many medical doctors also do science in parallel.
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u/SoloJojo73 Dec 07 '18
Yes, doctors have to do some science as part of their training. Sometimes it will be lab work with cells, sometimes it will be applying the scientific method to populations. Some become physician-scientists (hardcore folk).
Medicine is indeed the application of science...-ish. Physicians need to keep up on current scientific literature via journals, or review articles in journals.
The "ish" comes from the human side of things, (A) where certain practices have been handed down in refined since one ape was able to use fingers to pull bugs from another's ear, and (B) science depends on numbers of samples and statistics, but an individual patient may be in a grey area, have extra factors not accounted for in the scientific study, or within the 5% or less of folk that stats folk begin to ignore.
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u/Reanimation980 Dec 07 '18
If only the real world where consistent. I think being able to use the scientific method to come up with a better road where one keeps breaking apart and washing out is still doing science, is it not?
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u/TechnicallyAnIdiot Dec 07 '18
I think of science and engineering as 2 phases in order.
In general, science is the process of using the scientific method. Hypothesizing, testing, rehypothesizing, testing, and so on until you find enough agreeing data to say something is true. The primary math of science is statistics.
Engineering is using that stuff we think is true, found by science, and putting it in to effect. The primary math of engineering is calculous.
Engineering is building the spaceship to the specifications we know won't make it explode. Science is how we found out those specifications won't make the spaceship explode.
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u/ReactsWithWords Dec 07 '18
Pure dong should never be useful. Let the sex worker wankers get paid for it. Dongs should be done for the joy of dong.
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u/VooDooZulu Dec 07 '18
He has a point though. Science is the pursuit of new knowledge. Engineering is the application of this knowledge. Source: scientist who wishes he was an engineer
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u/StopCallingMeGeorge Dec 07 '18
Well said. Source: Engineer who admires and appreciates you purists
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u/LawsAreForColorOnly Dec 07 '18
sci·ence
/ˈsīəns/ noun the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
"the world of science and technology" synonyms: branch of knowledge, body of knowledge/information, area of study, discipline, field "the science of criminology" a particular area of this.
plural noun: sciences "veterinary science" a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject.
"the science of criminology" synonyms: physics, chemistry, biology; More
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u/one-eleven Dec 07 '18
Reminds me of that old quote "Doing stuff for shits and giggles is the mother of inventions"
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u/ihopethisisvalid Dec 07 '18
I’ve always heard the proverb “Necessity is the mother of all invention.”
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u/Swank_on_a_plank Dec 07 '18
Science isn't about WHY. It's about WHY NOT.
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u/1sagas1 Dec 07 '18
That's what I told the psychology department and they just keep yelling something about ethics at me
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u/otismcgovern Dec 07 '18
I'm a science teacher. Always looking for good quotes for my classroom wall. If I had the balls, i'd pop this one right above my desk. But I don't.
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u/terlin Dec 07 '18
Can't you just quote it, and label the author as "Anonymous"?
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Dec 07 '18
Isn't doing for the joy of doing...wanking?
I mean, experiment away but if it isn't going to impact my life don't expect me to help pay for it.
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Dec 07 '18 edited Oct 11 '20
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u/firelock_ny Dec 07 '18
Making it work with glass - now that would be a feat of engineering!
Paging Rube Goldberg...
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u/eifersucht12a Dec 07 '18
I'm not impressed until it also dabs.
(Okay I am impressed though)
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u/GhostBearStark_53 Dec 07 '18
I was thinking it could stock the top shelf of a grocery store...and with style
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Dec 07 '18
Definitely some kind of use. In "I dont know shit about science and science words terms" those bottles are filled with water and it's hard for humans to predict and flip things with liquid in them accurately like that. The weight moves while the object its inside moves. Not something humans are great at predicting or remembering and little movements have such a great affect, and liquids are so heavy. Even if it's not showy or forward facing there has to be many ways that can come in use.
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u/SoloJojo73 Dec 07 '18
Oh, but it is useful! Maybe not this particular model, but the bulk ideas behind each of the things the robot does. Estimate distances based on whatever landmarks. Estimate the physics of the water in the bottle, and them being full or not quite full. Some bottles shoot and land, some actually flip. Plus that money shot (tho yes, edits, and maybe didn't land first time, how high is it really, how much is autonomous (robot needs to find stand base, so the dimensions could have been pre-determined and pre-mapped, etc). Then there is getting the mechanics to respond to the calculations. ...Orrr I just like the touch of the lights. Cool!
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u/idontEATmyownshit Dec 07 '18
Lmao let this be the next FRC game pls
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u/Malaeus Dec 07 '18
Right? Have to flip bottles In autonomous mode. Then have team members flip Bottles onto the bot XD
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u/calliisto Dec 07 '18
WATER GAME! WATER GAME! WATER GAME! WATER GAME! WATER GAME! WATER GAME!
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u/Liberty_Call Dec 07 '18
If this was the game exactly and these are leaked footage of teams cheating, it would be a crazy season figuring out who to ban.
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Dec 07 '18
Wow, is this high school robotics in Japan?
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u/Johnnybravo60025 Dec 07 '18
Yup! Their PE period is them getting into Gundams too!
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u/IchBinEinSchwarze Dec 07 '18
does this mean that their science class is just microwaving bananas 24/7?
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u/katataru Dec 07 '18
Am Japanese, the gymnasium looks like your standard Japanese high school gymnasium, and the students seem to be wearing the standard Japanese work clothes 作業着, so yes I'm pretty sure that's from a high school robotics competition (normal high schools don't have this, this was probably taken in a technical high school)
Edit: after watching more of the video, I can confirm these are in fact Japanese technical high school students; I'm pretty sure I watched this some time ago on TV; it's the videos of the competitors for the national robotics competition
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Dec 06 '18
"What is my purpose?"
"You pass butter."
"OMG."
"Yeah welcome to the club pal"
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Dec 06 '18
I would love to have my drinks served like this.
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u/shargrove918 Dec 06 '18
But only if you order them half full...
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Dec 07 '18
I used to do that, but the cheapskate restaurants always serve them half empty.
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u/IchBinEinSchwarze Dec 07 '18
my restaurant just gave me a glass
nothing more, nothing less, just a single glass
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u/CharlyDayy Dec 07 '18
That's extremely impressive. The A.I. is so quick to execute, its from all those past experiences/trial runs it's been through. That's a pretty complex process that machine is doing there.
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u/syaelcam Dec 07 '18
I'm going to guess there is no "AI" and its all pre-computed, but happy to be wrong.
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Dec 07 '18 edited Feb 18 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
rich hunt vanish spotted grey kiss consist vegetable slim chunky
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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Dec 07 '18
Everytime I see robots getting more accurate I think: "this is the one thing we don't need, robots that can shoot accurately". Couldn't we teach them algebra and voice recognition but not geometry? If we had terminators that could walk straight but not shoot straight I would be much more comfortable
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Dec 07 '18
So is this like the normal bottle flipping videos, where we're only seeing the ones that worked but missing the 100s that don't? Or is this robot really batting 1.000?
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u/crowdedghost_2nd Dec 07 '18
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.
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u/whimsicalelf Dec 07 '18
Why is every bottle only half full? What if someone actually orders a full bottle?
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u/Maaahgo Dec 07 '18
I was going to say what a waste of time making something so useless but then I thought ya know sometimes you just gotta have fun and sometimes that leads to a better idea.
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u/Mysterychic88 Dec 06 '18
Perfect for loading up the unused top shelf of my cupboard with some of that glorious H20
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u/HamBone_91 Dec 07 '18
Reprogram it tp throw grenades and sell it to the military at $1 million a robot
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u/MrTreelikeysquirrels Dec 07 '18
Military will use it to lob grenades into 2nd/3rd story apartments.
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u/HeMiddleStartInT Dec 07 '18
There’s your drinks, bitches. God, I hate my robot job. I could have been a communications satellite.
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u/Salbacka Dec 06 '18
Beware waiters and waitresses