Team number: 258
Years in FIRST: 5 years.
Drivetrain motors: 2 Atwood (CIM), 2 Drill, 2 Globe.
Driven wheels: 4 custom machined aluminum 6.5" wheels with MSC timing belt tread. (
Picture of wheels and tread).
No non-driven wheels.
Transfer method: <Neo>Gears. Lots of gears.</Neo>
Transmissions: Four custom fabricated gearboxes, one for each of four drive motors (drills and Atwoods).
Pictures.
Pictures. and more
pictures.
Steering: As Vu2000 stated, three distinct control schemes: 1) translational (all swerve modules are pointed in the same direction), 2) complementary (front and back sets of modules turn to complementary angles, in order to reduce the turning radius, as commonly seen on the GMC Denali (truck commercial with the object driving in a figure-eight so much that it makes you sick)), and 3) tank (both sets of modules are pointed straight forwards / backwards, and the robot is controlled as though there were no rotational component, whatsoever).
Sensors: Two potentiometers, without hardstops, which recycle at 360degrees. It took a good few hours digging around in local electronics surplus stores to find these babies, but I'll tell you, they were well worth it.
Success: I'd say that we were very successful. We seeded 5th at Silicon Valley, and had a great time. Quite the learning experience that FIRST intends us to have, if I do say so, myself.
Problems: Driver training was very difficult. Becoming oriented to the controls was definetly not the easiest thing to do, and we didn't have too much spare time to just drive around. Autonomous mode was rather interesting, seeing as though we only had it for the last few matches of the competition.
Next year: Well, there's lots of talk about a much more advanced system, but beyond that, I'm not at liberty to say, at this point in time.
Don't be afraid to IM or email me with questions or comments, or whatever.