Driver's Stations

[BJC]

We use an aluminum briefcase. I think that started in 2009 although I'm not sure if we pioneered it or not. Sense then many teams in our area have begun to do this because it is very easy to carry, set up and takes up minimal space in the driver station. I can't even imagine going back to mounting stuff to a board.

Our briefcase looks something like this: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl...:429,r: 1,s:0

[thefro526]

We build IO panels to fit the Robot. Sometimes we'll keep the same one, other times we won't.



I built that IO in 2009, we also used it in 2010. In 2011 we used a similar design but replaced the right most Button Array with a Joystick for Arm Control.

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by thefro526

We build IO panels to fit the Robot. Sometimes we'll keep the same one, other times we won't.

I built that IO in 2009, we also used it in 2010. In 2011 we used a similar design but replaced the right most Button Array with a Joystick for Arm Control.

Was it too bulky and heavy to carry? or was it pretty easy?

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

Was it too bulky and heavy to carry? or was it pretty easy?

It was a little on the bulky side, if memory serves me, it was about 48"x12" and a little on the heavy side, maybe 15lbs or so.

I usually carried it on my back using a Guitar strap or we'd throw it on the bottom of our cart so it wasn't a big deal. (I'm also 6'5" so a 4 foot long control board is nothing)

Really Old Picture For Reference:

[WizenedEE]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

How does everyone secure the laptop to the driver station. Last year we just had it sitting there and could have easily fell off. I dont want that again.

Oh man, I'm so proud of my way of doing this. What I did was take three 1/2 fabric straps and put two right around the hinges, going down the sides of the touchpad, then one between the touchpad and the keyboard. They would then go down and through slots in the piece of plywood it was sitting on. The straps covered up a few of the keys, but it's possible to type through them, and who types on the driver station anyway?

[AlecMataloni]

Originally Posted by BJC

We use an aluminum briefcase. I think that started in 2009 although I'm not sure if we pioneered it or not. Sense then many teams in our area have begun to do this because it is very easy to carry, set up and takes up minimal space in the driver station. I can't even imagine going back to mounting stuff to a board.

2009 was our first year with the briefcase as well, IIRC.

BTW, Seeing our briefcase OIs side by side this year during our awesome qualification match at IRI was pretty awesome.

[plnyyanks]

We uses a CNC mill to make some custom parts for our control board. They include the housings for our joysticks as well as some angled brackets to hold the 1x1 stock frame together. And we put some shiny blue lexan on it and velcroed the laptop and switchbox on top. It came out pretty nice.


The plastic connector things (yes, that's the technical term)


The completed board

[the man]

That's about what we did, except with a lighter blue, no corner pieces. and a guitar strap.

[Radical Pi]

We have something similar in form to plnyyanks' too.



Switches on the left, Joysticks on the right, laptop in the middle. The main body is diamond plate, which I admit could be replaced by a lighter alternative. It holds up well for our various demos though, many of which involve driving the bot while carrying the board, so the folding solutions are a bit more complex. We are lucky enough to have a laser cutter available, so we take plexiglass, burn off some paint to make the pattern, and then cut out holes for the switches, as well as for the cables to run through. Also comes with red lights on the inside for extra effect.

[R.C.]

Personally,

We love 233's Driver Station, we copied it this year and will for sure do it again!

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/30632
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/30631

-RC

[roystur44]

971 2011 Drivers Station wasn't very pretty but it sure works well. The students made a mock up and it worked so well we just went with it.

Arcade set point buttons, score button with manual control levers over ride. Timer fired minibot launcher.


https://picasaweb.google.com/1177698...74397083339074

[dbeckwith]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

How does everyone secure the laptop to the driver station. Last year we just had it sitting there and could have easily fell off. I dont want that again.

We used velcro to keep it on our control board, it worked pretty well. You have to make sure you get good velcro though or else it will just fall off. The problem though was that our velcro was a little too strong, and the bottom panel of the laptop kept getting ripped off.

[sithmonkey13]

My team is thinking about switching over to the briefcase style DS. For the teams that use them, do you do anything special to keep the Classmate from moving around, or do you just let it slide? Also, are there any specific cases anyone can recommend?

[holygrail]

I've mentored for two teams. My old team mounted the driver station to a marching band drum harness and that worked awesome. We could walk around the whole school driving the robot. My new team has just been using lexan with a quickframe border. Components are velcroed down. The industrial stuff is very strong. We don't worry about getting velcro stuck to the classmate because that is pretty much its whole purpose anyway. We might try to combine both styles this year.

[BJC]

Originally Posted by AlecMataloni

2009 was our first year with the briefcase as well, IIRC.

BTW, Seeing our briefcase OIs side by side this year during our awesome qualification match at IRI was pretty awesome.

It was pretty sweet. That was my favorite match of the entire year. We need to work togeather more often.

Originally Posted by sithmonkey13

My team is thinking about switching over to the briefcase style DS. For the teams that use them, do you do anything special to keep the Classmate from moving around, or do you just let it slide? Also, are there any specific cases anyone can recommend?

I believe that we use velcro to keep the classmate from moving all around inside the briefcase. The controllers just sit in there on either side. I would suggest an aluminum one because they look classy. When you buy it just make sure that it is deep enough for everything you want to fit. Our's also has some pockets on the flip up portion which we use to hold other stuff like a match list, a couple small commonly used tools, etc. Another consideration.. because minibots are highly likely to come back this year. Last year we had a foam padded manibot case also. It protected the minibot very well and looked quite stylish, we threw some LED's in there to it would light up when opened. Eh, we thought it was pretty cool.