229 Drive Train
 

Well guys and girls here's a little taste of what we've been working on. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.team229.org/video/single/23

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

That sure looks familiar :)

Nice job

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

One word....SLICK. I like how those things maneuver around. :] Good job to all the 229ers'!

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

John sent me a message letting me know they were working on an omage to our original kiwi robot.........

it turned out super cool. for those of you who don't know my teammates and I built the kiwi for the 2002 season. it worked really well but unfortunately hasn't been revisited by any teams since. (at least the pure three-wheeled version)

the footage in the opening of the video is of our original prototype, and the music was also featured in our original promo.

just wanted to say thanks to john and team 229 for throwing us a nod! hopefully we'll see this technology on the FIRST playing field this year.

thanks again.

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

That's Awesome!
I've been hoping to see another "Kiwi" since we worked on it back in '02... now with 3 matched motors again and another flat playing field we've got another perfect year to for it. Beautiful work, and great video, hope to see it sometime up close. And Anthony said, thanks for the nod.

One question... did you use a "triple stick" control for it like we did or do you have clever programmers??

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

it's nice~ but the vdeo is UNNECESSARILY long~ I suggest you cut atleast2/3rds of it -

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Ok... it's not our real competition drive base (did the drill motors/trannys clue you in?)

Ever since we (the college mentors of 229) saw the 2002 video from 857, we've been impressed and amazed. We show their video at recruiting events, and team functions. We sit in our rooms watching it for fun (sometimes).
Overall... we love it.

So... we decided to build our own.

We originally intended to use the 3-joystick method, but our programmers protested. So, the control was done in code. Joel Johnson might be able to answer more questions about it.

Anyways, it makes a good demo robot. VIPs love the "omni-action"!

Of course, special thanks go to AndyMark, Inc. Those omni wheels of theirs saved us a ton of time, and they've been GREAT so far. High quality.

Hope you enjoy it,
John

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

that looks like a blast to drive

is it?

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

I believe the video was a parody of the original 857 bot, which was a few minutes long, also. The 229 video also used the same music... hence the 'parody'.

P.S. - Is that just regular 80/20 that you guys used? Did you just paint it gold, or did you buy it that way? Wicked paint job, though - good job to Chris Carnevale! ;)

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

I believe you need to loosen up a bit, the team was having some fun, no one made you watch it. I for one, enjoyed the clip, I thought it was a very cool design.

I liked how the robot moves around, though I did see three drill motors I believe on the robot, no? Anyways, I suppose that's easy enough to switch over to three CIMs, just have to play with the gearing.

All in all, very cool idea, I like the drivetrain very much. I would love to have a go at driving that robot, because that definitely looks like a whole lot of fun. Bring it to Atlanta, you can sell turns on it! :-p

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

If I was going to Atlanta I'd be the first customer. I'd pay $15 for a 3 minute try.

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

It is definitely fun to drive. Though, somewhat difficult to remember which side is the "Front" because of how fast it spins. We need a flag or something.

It will probably make the trip to Rochester, and MAYBE Cleveland.
If you ask nicely, maybe you can drive free of charge.

JV

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

That is awesome. I'd love to try to recreate that recreation. Just as a fun thing. Do you have any more video or pictures? Anything more in depth would be great. Post here, or you can email me at jhoff@cyberblue234.com. Anything would be appreciated. I'm really interested in that. Maybe something that myself and a few of the other kids on the team can work on during our study hall, just to see what 4 teens, without engineer assistance or knowledge can do. Maybe if we could get that working, we could try something of our own recreation. Yet again, that is great! :D

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Back in 2002, I remember watching the kiwi video for the first time, and I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen! (And still have a copy of the video on my laptop) Great job on the recreation of the legend! I love the polished frame and neat wiring! I spoke with some of the 857 folks at the championship in Florida about the concepts behind the system. How many sticks are you guys using to drive, if not the tri-stick method? Share the magic Joel!

edit: The original kiwi prototype drive video is still up at 857's '02 site, just so you can see the parody :).

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Guys, there are other teams that have since, and will, use omniwheel holonomic drives. And I mean in competition. The 4 CIMs are definitley inviting.

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

homage :(

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Yup, they sure are... Hmmm....

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

I am downloading the video as I write this (dumb 56 k)
I have heard of the kiwi's and saw a couple lego models...pretty shweet. I can't wait to watch the vid.
The holonomic is also very shweet as you mentioned max. Uuhh I think 1083 had one last year... wicked ball gatherer.

But the real question is.. Where the mecanum at?!?
^kinda off topic (heh sorry... I couldnt resist asking)

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Love the video, love the song. This is a great looking robot with smoooth motion. Kudos to 229.

(btw.. thanks for the plug at the end)

Andy B.

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

just because im a geek, is it coincedence that the file size is 22.9mb? lol....

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

I love it!! That is a cool Drive Train. Good work to 229 and 857. wow.

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Oh no, 229 is appearing everywhere again :ahh:

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

229, thats incredible. I know it isn't the game drive, but itd be fun to see it in action on the field!
Looks great!

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Man i wish i was i could goto nationals this year ;) awesome robot

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

We greatly appreciate the compliments, however we're just (as usual) standing on the shoulder of a giant.

857 and the boys at MI Tech were the ones who showed us how to do it, AndyMark provided the omni-wheels, and we just took it from there.

Personally -- I can't wait to see what other cool omnis we see this season.
It is a good year for them.

John

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

this is so cool , but i don't get how it works :confused:

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

William,

The wheels are all set 120 degrees apart and are special Omni or Trick Wheels. This allows for the component forces of the wheel to power the robot in the desired direction. The most basic example of this is the robot going straight forward. To do this 2 of the wheels are powered the same amount and the third trails behind with little friction due to the rollers on the Omni wheels.
In the attached diagram (Sorry for the paint usage, it was the quickest way) you can see that 2 black arrows are the forces from the wheels. The red vector (arrow) is the force applied backwards from the wheel and the blue one is the perpendicular force. If you add up the forces in both directions (vertically and horizontally) the 2 blue arrows cancel each other out and therefore the robot only moves in the red direction. Powering the three wheels at various levels creates a more complex model, but allows the robot to move in any direction. I hope this helps.

-Eric

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

thx alot Eric, now i want to buy a few omni wheels

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Dude, we still have the original kiwi in our shop. Works great (play with it whenever we get bored.) I'll bring it to great lakes and midwest if people will pay to drive it. :D

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

Hey now, no selling things at competitions! :D

(Can you tell I've been reading the manual too much lately?)

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

this has to be the coolest drive train I have ever seen, nice paint job as well!




now now, there is no such thing as reading the manual too much :D . I read it every night just before I go to bed. In fact, no one else on my team even looks at the rules, they just ask me. (not that I can name just about every rule by its letter and number ;) ).

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

How do u make a kiwi drive unit?

Re: 229 Drive Train
 

If you know how to build one or know any link that will tell me how to build one please email me or send me a message! thanks