FRC125 - The NUTRONs- 2016 Reveal

[Brandon Holley]

Hey CD!

Team 125, the NUTRONs, are proud to present our 19th robot for the FIRST Robotics Competition - Escape Velocity.



Escape Velocity features:

• 24"x22" Overall Drivebase - fits on a single 'Rampart' and two total 'CDF' planks
• 14.5 ft/s Single Speed
• 6WD, 6" Pneumatic Wheels
• Defeater of A, B, D Defenses
• Helical Intake Roller
• Pneumatically-actuated Catapult - capable of scoring from the Batter to Outerworks

We'll see everyone at:
Arizona North Regional
NEFIRST Rhode Island District Event
NEFIRST Boston District Event
NEFIRST Pine Tree District Event

-Brando

[Dylan179]

Awesome

[Kevin Leonard]

This robot is going to have 4 events before district championships in a rough game like Stronghold. It looks fantastic, though, and I love that you made it thin enough to fit on on rampart. I wanted to do that, but felt it didn't leave enough space for intake in our design. I'm glad you made it work though!
Good luck this season!

[mwmac]

Very nice! Looking forward to seeing it this weekend in Flagstaff...

[carpedav000]

Love this robot! Good job 125

Quick question though... What happens when you are getting ready to shoot and another robot bumps you? Does the boulder fall out/become misaligned?

[jwfoss]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

Love this robot! Good job 125

Quick question though... What happens when you are getting ready to shoot and another robot bumps you? Does the boulder fall out/become misaligned?

The opponent causes a penalty and 125 gets points (since they shoot touching the defenses).

Excellent concept and execution on a unique design this year guys, very impressed.

[bkahl]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

Quick question though... What happens when you are getting ready to shoot and another robot bumps you? Does the boulder fall out/become misaligned?

Originally Posted by jwfoss

The opponent causes a penalty and 125 gets points (since they shoot touching the defenses).

Beyond what Justin said, the shooting process has been refined since the filming of the video. The release of the intake roller into the firing process is a much faster transition.

EDIT: We also have firing positions from the outer works and batter. Those provide a more protected firing position.

[carpedav000]

Originally Posted by bkahl

Beyond what Justin said, the shooting process has been refined since the filming of the video. The release of the intake roller into the firing process is a much faster transition.

EDIT: We also have firing positions from the outer works and batter. Those provide a more protected firing position.

Oh, cool I was just curious.

[Josh Goodman]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

What happens when you are getting ready to shoot and another robot bumps you? Does the boulder fall out/become misaligned?

I looks like teams will have a very small window of time to do so. Based on the trajectory of that shot and lining up with the intake on the back, you can bet they'll be shooting from _just_ outside the outerworks. Which will probably be a little too close for comfort for most teams.

Cool robot concept and great design. I look forward to watching your matches!

EDIT: Wow -- I was really late on this response. Justin and Bailey beat me.

[NShep98]

That's more like it. That will be exciting to see in Boston.


please pick us

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard

This robot is going to have 4 events before district championships in a rough game like Stronghold. It looks fantastic, though, and I love that you made it thin enough to fit on on rampart. I wanted to do that, but felt it didn't leave enough space for intake in our design. I'm glad you made it work though!
Good luck this season!

We've been doing 4 events pre DCMP for a few years now.

When Brando told me size of bot I nearly fell over laughing thinking it was a joke. Then I got sad cuz I had to fit electronics in. But it happened.

Not mentioned is the code. Our software team has been hard at work and there's some fun surprises in store for folks.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

We've been doing 4 events pre DCMP for a few years now.

When Brando told me size of bot I nearly fell over laughing thinking it was a joke. Then I got sad cuz I had to fit electronics in. But it happened.

Not mentioned is the code. Our software team has been hard at work and there's some fun surprises in store for folks.

Andrew, can you describe your process for cramming the electronics in? Is it based in CAD or do you use cardboard or just do it free style once the rest of the robot is built? It's something we've struggled with in the last few years and I'd like to know how a team like 125 goes about it.

Thanks!

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by waialua359

I dont get it.
You didnt even share the most impressive attribute of this robot.
The fact that it fits in a VEX size container as a check in luggage to compete in Arizona.
Post that Twitter pic!

Good luck this season.

-Glenn

https://twitter.com/nutrons/status/706998824296947712 Ok, to be fair, it's 2 vex sized boxes.

Originally Posted by marshall

Andrew, can you describe your process for cramming the electronics in? Is it based in CAD or do you use cardboard or just do it free style once the rest of the robot is built? It's something we've struggled with in the last few years and I'd like to know how a team like 125 goes about it.

Thanks!

Well, we're not GREAT at it. It got done. But we had a dedicated area for electronics and just played with it (in various forms) until we knew how it'd fit. Then cut panel, put it all on, and done.

The robot is small, but because the ball never enters the perimeter we actually had a nice space to put everything.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by marshall

Andrew, can you describe your process for cramming the electronics in? Is it based in CAD or do you use cardboard or just do it free style once the rest of the robot is built? It's something we've struggled with in the last few years and I'd like to know how a team like 125 goes about it.

Thanks!

When we started laying out drive concepts and overall robot concepts, the idea of a really tiny robot was in the back of our minds the whole time. We knew from the get go that electronics, pneumatics (there are 4 big black clippard tanks on that guy, and a compressor), battery placement, etc were all going to be challenging.

Once the first pass mechanical design got to a point we had some semblance of confidence around, we created an MCO (mechanical control outline) for the electronics. Essentially this is a volume of space, in a specific place on the robot that we agreed to not use for robot mechanicals, and allow the electronics group to stuff their pieces into.

I think this first pass MCO was something like 8"X13"X6". The electronics team laid out all their parts on cardboard, and then quickly progressed to a polycarb proto board. Around this time we had completed the frame of the robot and were able to do a sanity check around sizing and positioning. We constrained the electronics to an exceptional degree to allow us to move the battery around to optimize CG placement for defense crossing. A 13lb battery in a 78lb robot has a HUGE effect on CG and therefore how smoothly we can traverse.

From there, the electronics team started making it real and attaching it all together. We made some improvements along the way like isolating the entire board on some closed cell rubber foam (to help with impact) and tightening the wiring up to a crisp state that makes it reasonably serviceable.

We're definitely not experts, but the process based around building an MCO (with confidence) is the key element I'd offer as advice.

-Brando

[marshall]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

When we started laying out drive concepts and overall robot concepts, the idea of a really tiny robot was in the back of our minds the whole time. We knew from the get go that electronics, pneumatics (there are 4 big black clippard tanks on that guy, and a compressor, battery placement, etc were all going to be challenging.

Once the first pass mechanical design got to a point we had some semblance of confidence around, we created an MCO (mechanical control outline) for the electronics. Essentially this is a volume of space, in a specific place on the robot that we agreed to not use for robot mechanicals, and allow the electronics group to stuff their space into.

I think this first pass MCO was something like 8"X13"X6". The electronics team laid out all their parts on cardboard, and then quickly progressed to a polycarb proto board. Around this time we had completed the frame of the robot and were able to do a sanity check around sizing and positioning. We constrained the electronics to an exceptional degree to allow us to move the battery around to optimize CG placement for defense crossing. A 13lb battery in a 78lb robot has a HUGE effect on CG and therefore how smoothly we can traverse.

From there, the electronics team started making it real and attaching it all together. We made some improvements along the way like isolating the entire board on some closed cell rubber foam (to help with impact) and tightening the wiring up to a crisp state that makes it reasonably serviceable.

We're definitely not experts, but the process based around building an MCO (with confidence) is the key element I'd offer as advice.

-Brando

I REALLY appreciate this info. Thank you!