Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Nice shot trajectory! I'm impressed.

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

How did you guys implement the encoders in the drive to make it go straight? My team wants to do this but we are unsure how to do so.

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Code is available here

https://github.com/FRC125/NU14/blob/...riveTrain.java

Multimotor is a helpful wrapper we created specifically for this:
https://github.com/FRC125/NU14/blob/...ultiMotor.java

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Any info on the springs you guys are using?

Thanks

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Thanks Akash. I can't take credit for the robot though. We have an insanely dedicated, talented and hard-working group of kids who did almost all of the design work of this robot (and made the awesome release video). I'm just there to guide them and come up with a good idea every now and then.

Thanks! The drive as James and Andrew alluded to is a 6CIM, single speed, FLAT 6WD, using 4" Colsons. Geared to just under 14 ft/s.

Thanks Rob. I wish I could count the number of iterations of spring force, hook geometry, release angle, pivot height, spring mount to get to that trajectory....it was a lot.

The robot was designed around the 'sweet spot' concept of the higher you release and the harder you throw the wider zone on the field you can score from, a concept I'm sure MANY teams tried to exploit. We originally pursued the linear puncher concept and had pretty remarkable success. What we found was the secondary systems required to get a linear puncher system elevated (to exploit the 'sweet spot') were too complicated/unnecessary. Thats how we ended up with the high-pivot catapult. We think we found a good one, but only time will tell!

-Brando

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Flat 6wd... interesting. What prompted that decision?

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

So Brandon you guys have no drop and are technically in the long configuration?

Our team is weighted to wide (26 x 29.75) 6wd, no drop, 4"x 1 1/2" colsons, direct drive off of 3 CIM Ballshifters 6/13FPS and after this weekend we determined we need to put a drop in by shaving down a Colson wheel. Don't know if you realized us having to cool our CIMs down in the finals but after some investigating we realized we went from pulling 30 AMPs driving straight to pulling 106 AMPs (sensor maxes at 100 so we could be pulling more) while turning. Turning the robot by hand is almost impossible but powered on it powers through them but it hasn't been good on our CIMs.

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Looks great, guys! Hope you guys have a strong season this year!

It was great playing with you guys at Week Zero... sorry we couldn't keep the defense off you better. :-) In hind-sight I think a triple-assist strategy may've been more effective for our alliance... Those extra 20 points for the third assist are awful enticing!

Look forward to competing with you guys down in RI!

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

The decision was based around 2 key things:

1. Eliminating rock for shooting purposes (would help w/ shot to shot consistency)
2. Keeping a defender from being able to easily turn us off course. We never have an end of the robot not in contact w/ the carpet so we eliminate that giant lever arm someone can use to spin us.

The entire robot is 27" long, which boils down to a 22.5" long wheelbase with a ~28" wide wheelbase 'stance'. To answer your question Brendan, I'd say we're comfortably a 'wide' configuration when looking at where the wheels physically touch the ground ('square' when you look at the frame perimeter).

You can easily turn the robot by hand on the ground. We were extremely happy with how it performed at the scrimmage.

-Brando

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Well done Brandon and the nutrons. Plus you are hosting a New England event. You've been busy. Marie

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

The Nutrons are competing in Groton? I'll see you guys on the field ;)

Your catapult is powerful to give your shots such good distance. But it might be a challenge for Field Volunteers to retrieve your scored balls. Nevertheless, it's an excellent design overall.

I plan to be field-side for the 10th Beantown Blitz, my fellow nuts and bolts.

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

We used these springs found at Home Depot. We've also found them at Lowe's: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-...5618/202045482

We worked exceptionally hard in 2008 to find the right springs to use that give you the right spring force in the right amount of travel. We used our 2008 springs in some prototypes in our shop and found they again worked very well and went out and bought a new stock for this years robot.

While this statement may be truthful, its not a criteria we would ever design around. With the multiple field reset personnel and multiple balls available per alliance (post-autonomous) I don't foresee it being an issue for us.

-Brando

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

You guys performed well in Groton. As a member of the Field Repair/Reset crew I noticed that one of the wheels inside your ball intake broke off. Do you plan to install a new one or will you leave those side wheels off entirely?

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

That system has been upgraded to improve our performance.

Re: FRC125 - The NUTRONs - 2014 Reveal - Dark Matter
 

Where can 4" Colsons be purchased?
Thanks