3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

Specs:
Drivetrain
AM14U Chassis

Electronics Shielding
Had to throw us in there because we are quite happy with the system. It is two Gull-Wing doors that fold up for access to electronics, we love them.

Catching Cage
PVC Structure
Rises up to 59"
Retracts with a 10:1 Versaplanitary attached to a Banebot Orange Wheel (Traction wheel)
Held up when fully extracted by two steel-cable tensioners

Catapult
Retracted by a Ballshifter with a 3/8 wrench inside (inspired by this) (Thanks 4265)
Webbing attached to the arm by a U-bolt, then to the winch shaft by two 1/2inch hex hubs from Andymark.
Reliably shoots over truss, working on reliably hitting the high goal.
Ball is held by a painted and cut Salad Bowl.

Story
This was probably the smoothest-sailing robot build 3397 has ever done. We jumped right into prototyping and building a practice-chassis week 1, messing with different catapult and intake designs. Near the end of the week, we decided to scrap the floor pickup and focus on catching. Catcher prototyping was undertaken week 2, as the CAD and electronics started coming together. By the end of that week, we were 16 hours behind scheduled due to snow, but got some CAD for a prototype catapult to our sponsors. Week 3, we worked on that catapult, and mounted it to the practice robot frame. Then put on electronics. We started playing around with the catapult and started on finalizing the CAD. Week 4 we sent off our CAD to our sponsors, but kept the practice frame and kept tinkering with that. More days were lost to snow, but we kept working. Our stuff came in at the end of the week, and assembly began. We lost some time waiting for parts, but were making the final assembly push in weeks 5 and six. We finished construction the Friday before ship,, and started testing and refining. Worked on code and drove a lot. We kept everything on as we bagged it up on Bag-N-Tag, feeling really good.

See yall at STL, it is gonna be fun!

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

How far does the Catching Cage stick out horizontally? It seems to stick out really close to 20 inches

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

It goes out to 19.5 inches, the tensioners keep it from going out further.

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

The AM14U in the wide configuration is 23 inches long. Their cage doesn't take up all 23 inches when retracted and part of it stays in the robot when extended. It looks OK. (I'm sure it was carefully measured as well.)

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

And I don't want to be a 'Negative Nancy' but if the ball hits the catching cage hard enough wouldn't the robot tip over?

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

The weight of the robot is much more forward on the robot, and while it might lean back a little, low bumpers and a CoG towards the front of the frame will make sure we lean back forwards. We actually were able to test things like that this year! (Unlike the "finish the robot the night of ship" that we have had in past years.)

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

Well that is good that you are doing that. Thanks for answering. And good luck at your competitions.:cool:

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

The robot looks amazing. I think it's definitely the best one I've seen you guys build! Can't wait to see your team at the STL regional!

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

Looks great guys. The only question I have is what are you planning to do in autonomous? It looks like you could get it to high goal score during that time.

Re: 3397 Presents: Ulysses
 

If we can get to the point where we can hit the 10pt reliably, we will go for it in autonomous, but that is not where we are right now. Currently, we will drive forward and dump into the 1pt. Maybe we will get to the point where we can hit the 10.