Quote:
Originally posted by Andy Baker
Rob, you have a keen eye. But... if you look closely at the gearbox nearest to the camera, there is a spot for the F-P motor. We figure that by adding the F-P motor, it will give us about 18.62553% more power. So, we've got that going for us, which is nice.
Currently, we plan to use our F-P motors to spin the "super-duper-really-cool-shinny thing" at about 1,000 rpm, and everybody knows what that is going to do.
So... our big dilemma is how we are going to use these F-P motors. Do we go for more power or do we spin the "super-duper-really-cool-shinny thing"?
Andy B.
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Man, those super-duper-really-cool-shinny things look cool! Of course they're cool, because they're super-duper-really-cool-shinny things.
I'd go with the super-duper-really-cool-shinny things... too much pushing power is overkill in this year's game. It gives you more maneuverability too...
Hmm... the super-duper-really-cool-shinny things look like they have a diameter of 6" from the person holding them (looks like they are approximately 1 handspan, 5-6").
0.5ft * pi * 1000 RPM / 60s = 26 Feet per Second
Nice and fast... but are you gonna have enough torque to accelerate your 'bot??????
Personally, if you plan on stacking boxes, I'd mount the omni's perpendicular to the treads... so that you have a kind of "swerve drive". This gives you 3 options. You can use the treads for maximum traction/pushing power. You can lower the omnis on the front and use the rear treads for a slow-moving powerful robot that turns nice. Or, you can lower both the back and front omni's for optimum turning and speed. Perfect for broad-siding your oponents, but you might want to protect your treads with 1/16" polycarb if you do this.
If you have trouble understanding what I mean by perpendicular... mount the wheels so that they rotate toward the treads. The omnis on the right tread side of the robot would spin freely on the bearings... and the omnis on the left tread side would each be driven by a FP. The front and rear sets of omnis would be mounted on aluminum rods (2 per rod), so that you could engage either the front or back, or both. It would only require 2 cylinders then... The only problem I see, is will the omnis be able to turn the FPs when the treads want to turn... Either that or you can have your programmer drive the FP's for omni-assisted turning.
There are many advantages of this... for example, stacking boxes would be easier. Pick one up, slide/swerve over to the stack, and drop it down. Second, it would be handy on the ramp to dodge speeding robots.... hehe. The main advantage is robot automation. Drive your robot forward on treads until you lose the white tape, then swerve back over until you passed the tape twice, which puts you approx at the center of the ramp. Then tread up the ramp and show those boxes who's boss.