WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Hi Teams,



We are thrilled to announce our 2016 MCC Robot powered by VEXpro!

Related information is available here: http://www.wcproducts.net/mcc2016

Notes/Disclaimers:

• The reversing of the balls over the obstacles is illegal, it is shown in the video for good fun!
• The hanger was done to show what can be done with COTS parts, we encourage teams to improve upon it and make it more visibly legal

Special thanks to Gary Chahal, Andrew Nabors, Elias Avila and Andrew Lawrence for helping out with this project.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Hella.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Looks oddly familiar...

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Very nice design. Definitely a worthy contender. I especially like how the rotation manages to stay within the frame perimeter extension rules during the scale.

Unfortunately the CAD links are broken, otherwise I'd love to dig into it more.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Build season done

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Try again! I did goof.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

This looks really similar to our robot...guess we're doing something right. Might steal a few tricks though. ;)

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Great concept. Was it just me or did I see something that seemed to resemble a Poofs bot in the background?

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Looks more like a 1323 robot to me. :rolleyes:

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

We tested 6" wheels in a mock setup but found that the 2" clearance scrapes the rough terrain in some cases. For a WCP gearbox setup, this means that the transmission plates/gears themselves may take a beating in the long term. Remember, the WCP gearboxes stick down below the frame quite a bit.

For this reason we added 1x1x1/16" 'skid rails' for the entire rear half of the robot, where our WCP DS gearboxes live (non-direct drive due to 8" wheels). This testing has performed really well no matter how we throw it at the rough terrain.

How does this MCC cope with the rough terrain clearance in the long-term? It's a question for the general forum to come up with an answer rather than a criticism of the design - I suspect chains, belts and gearboxes alike will need a solution.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

This is awesome.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Regarding the quotes at the end of the video/on the site, I have one dispute. Only Jared (254) mentioned the end game. I feel it is absolutely essential for a MCC robot to be able to participate in a tower capture. Alliance captains are not going to select 3rd robots who can't help them get those 20 points in eliminations. Keep in mind, MCC robots need to be able to distinguish themselves from others. You really don't want the way you're different than other potential picks to be that they can challenge, and you cannot. While it's not a "difficult" design challenge to fit on the batter, it requires some thought ahead of time in your frame dimensions.

Obviously, the actual design is capable, but I wish that was highlighted more.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

From the website:
What does this mean? How close to a game specific solution are these kits?

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Really, I think it's far more important to be able to do this than it is to be able to hang, which isn't really something I think an MCC robot must be able to do. Some competitive robots won't be able to hang.

That aside, this is an excellent robot and a great resource for teams who are stuck at the moment. Great job WCP!

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Nah, there isn't any questionable use of an elevator anywhere on here.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Does it stay in? That sure looks way over 15" to me off the back/top of the robot.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Sorry need to put more info, most if not all of the robot is COTS components sold through VEXpro or WCP. There are a few pieces we had to custom make and have had customers ask us if we'd have those parts available. We are hoping to make specific parts available that teams can't easily produce.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Whew. Glad to hear that this didn't mean WCP would be selling a bot-in-a-box.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Ty,

Yeah we don't want to sell pre boxed g2g solutions. We've been getting a ton of customer calls and emails about how to integrate the PTO and how to do various other tasks in this game. We thought it would help teams if we were able to put something together.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Absolutely. This is a great example and resource for the community, but there certainly exists a "Minimum-er Competitive Concept".

The true minimal set of capabilities is something like:

• Be able to cross at least one group of terrain reliably
• Be able to contribute something to the boulder aspect of the game (whether moving balls, scoring them, or playing defense on opponents attempting to score)
• Be able to help the alliance achieve the CAPTURE bonus

This boils down to a well-executed drivetrain and some sort of ball manipulator, which as this video shows is totally doable using COTS parts. Every team in FRC should be able to accomplish these tasks (though I'm sure some will not).

Hanging and going under the low bar are certainly nice features to have and may make you more attractive to alliances, but that's just gravy.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

I don't think their newer robots have enough fourbar. :)

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Great song choice.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

The kind of design that has the GDC quaking in their boots.

"Guys, we never saw the four bar in a shooting game coming? How could we have been so blind? We have to change the way we design games!"

I mean, I'm not saying that 1323 caused Recycle Rush; I just want to know if there is any evidence to the contrary that could counteract a potential smear campaign.

(I'm snowed in and really bored)

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Those wheels look absolutely gorgeous.

Great stuff RC & co.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

watching the video something was slightly unclear, how do the hooks detach from the extanda-climber thing, is it painters tape, because that's what it looked like in the video

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Nice concept, however it looks like you extended past 15" during scaling.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

I may or may not have nerded out at the King Crimson samples... :D
praise to our lord and savior Robert Fripp

Anyway, this is really impressive for how simple it is. I really like the climber design, I'm definitely going to take a closer look at it.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

They're aware that it's not exactly legal. They didn't want to do all the work. ::rolleyes::

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

It looks like only the telescoping part of the arm that initially latches the hook extends past 15". If that retracted during the hang, it would stay within 15"

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

How did you power the telescoping part of your arm (I wasn't sure from the CAD)?

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

It's also worth mentioning that most of the "extending outside the 15" perimeter" Issues will be dealt with during inspection. The only time I've ever seen it called on the field in prior years is when a robot is "flailing" something obviously outside the frame. These +/- a few inches calls during scaling won't be made by the referee crew because it's not realistic for them to see when a robot is 16" outside of it's frame for a split second during a fast climb.

This is why I expected a change to G18 during scaling. Every one said it's supposed to be hard and things like that but for me it came down to can it be called easily be the referee and/or checked during inspection. The answer to both of these questions is no. And rules you cannot enforce should not be rules.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

That doesn't mean you should knowingly break the rule and hide it in inspection. I've seen teams do this in the past and got a hint of that from your post. Teams should never look at this as a viable solution to play the game.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

How do you get that? It should be on the team and the inspector to clearly cover the way robot mechanisms perform before it even gets to the field. Referees don't test for steroids in Major League Baseball.

Just feels needlessly accusatory.

Re: WCP MCC Robot 2016 powered by VEXpro!
 

Nothing accusatory, unless there are some concerns from the one doing the reading. I'm sure that you have seen others skirt the rules in the past, as Im sure Justin probably has. Whether it be here or in any other part of life, having something that follows the rules when inspected closely and then abandons them when there us no clear way to catch a violation is wrong. Volkswagen comes to mind, as does recent Mini Cooper crash testing issues.

When I said that I didn't mean to imply that he had cheated in the past or was saying it was okay to do so. But if rookie teams or veteran teams with a lot of fresh membership read something written as it was, they might assume that as long as you pass inspection you can do whatever you want since there is no way to enforce it. I have seen it in the past with rookies and even some well respected veteran teams.

I just want to be sure that everyone stays on the right side of the rules to keep things the way they should be.