Drivebase with Electronics Board Design
Drivebase (Isometric View)
Drivebase (Top View)
Drivebase (Section View)
2010 Team 254/968 Blog [Archived]
2010 FIRST Robotics Season
Revised Launcher Assembly
Ball launching assembly launches ball out of the field when set at the high power position.
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Ball launcher assembly launches ball 44ft on the low power setting.
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Here’s the hit spread photo after a few test shots.
Manufacturing Progress
After almost 18 hours of machining the last two days we completed the first operation on all 70 wheels. We began the second operation and now have 20 completed wheels. The rest should be completed in ~3.5 hours tomorrow. We also began making wheel and gearbox spacers.
Manufacturing and Prototyping Progress
Today, Team 254 finished CNCing the wheel hubs for each team and cut the stock needed for the cams. In the meantime, the CAD team continued tweaking the baseplate design and other groups continued working on prototype methods of handling the soccer balls.
One of the more successful protoypes the team developed was an intake roller that gave the ball backspin, keeping it close to the robot while the robot moved. The prototype is still in development, and various rollers and traction materials are being tested.
Design, Manufacturing and Prototyping Progress
DESIGN
Today, the design team worked to finalize the drivetrain. The baseplate will be sent out to be cut by Mike D at NASA Kennedy’s waterjet shop first thing tomorrow morning.
MANUFACTURING
The CNC was running all day to cut all of the drivetrain tensioner cams. They will be clear anodized.
A large group of students scotch brited wheels so that they are ready to be delivered to the anodize shop. They will be delivered, along with the gearbox spacers and bearing housings, to the anodize shop tomorrow.
Towers of wheels after being polished, awaiting their trip to the anodize shop.
PROTOTYPING
Today, we continued to prototype Ball Retention Mechanisms. We tested several different types of rollers and shafts on the balls with mixed results. Several students and mentors also worked on modifying a 2 stage vaccum impeller to work with 2 FP motors. More testing will occur tomorrow
Also, we were a little worried that the robot with a thick baseplate underneath wouldn’t make it over the ramp. We decided to put a piece of polycarbonate on the bottom of the robot and test just to make sure. The robot went over the ramp just fine, as demonstrated in the videos below.
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Parts Out for Anodize
We dropped off the wheels, bearing housings, and gearbox spacers at the anodize shop today. Hopefully we should see them back in a few days.
Manufacturing and Prototyping Progress
MANUFACTURING
Today, construction on the tensioner cams was completed.
PROTOTYPING
Today we did extensive prototyping with vacuums. We continued to work with the two-stage impeller assembly hooked up to 2 fisher price motors. The impellers are currently running with a 1:1 reduction off of the fisher price motors. We hooked it up to a 4″ funnel which we mounted on the front of the 2009 drivebase.
The vaccum seems to work much better than any roller systems we have found. It maintains good suction on the ball. The only potential issue is getting the ball, which may be able to be solved with adequate driver practice.
2-Stage Vaccum Impeller Assembly
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open source video, online video platform, video streaming, video solutions
open source video, online video platform, video streaming, video solutions
open source video, online video platform, video streaming, video solutions
Today’s Progress
Today we began to manufacture the robot frame. Currently the CNC is turning them out after a laborious 3 passes in order to bore all the holes. Hopefully we will have them done and ready to ship out by tomorrow afternoon.
We also furthered our progress on the vacuum prototype, unfortunately with little success. Increasing the size of the hose running to the suction cup did not yield any positive results. We should continue to explore the benefits of the vacuum as it seems the most promising ball-manipulation system.
Vertical Rollers Testing
During the previous two days, we attempted to design and prototype different roller orientations with minimal success. Before we were able to record a video of the horizontal roller setup, we determined that the setup held the ball well(going forward). While attempting to move the prototype backward, the ball would not stay in contact with the roller.
Oy. We determined that his was definately a problem. Horizontal roller utilizing a 1/2″ diameter round shaft will not meet our required specifications.
We moved onto an idea that our student design group envisioned… dual vertical rollers.
The vertical roller test(s) utilized the following parameters:
1. One roller spinning at half speed, one at full
2. One roller with rotational resistance, one roller at half speed(This test demonstrated the best results)
3. Both rollers spinning at full speed
We determined that the vertical roller setup requires that the ball is only pulled into the prototype under a specific set of conditions. (It doesn’t really work…..)
Please note that this is a proof of concept test.
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The artist depiction below displays the team hard at work on new prototypes.
Lifting Arm Calculations
Review the PDF linked below for calculations for the lifting arm. If the PTO is driven on the low gear side (14 to 64), then an additional reduction of approximately 8:1 will be required to drive the arm. This is easily achievable in two stages. If the PTO is driven from the high gear side (30 to 48), then an additional reduction of about 23:1 is required – still achievable in two stages, but requires rather large and small sprockets. With 4 CIMS, the lift can occur in about 1/2 second. With only 2 CIMS, it could still work if geared properly (twice the reduction), but it would take twice as long.
The calculations below are presented in a fashion that should be understandable by the astute high-school student who has completed a Physics class.
PRIVACY
This is the public archive of the 2010 Team 254/968 Blog.
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