Videos From AndyMark

[Peyton Yeung]

I don't know about you but the omnis on a scooter video with Andy was instructional on how not to ride a scooter

[IndySam]

A mecanum 101 video would be helpful to many. Also basic pneumatics.

Some videos of the destructive testing AM does would be cool.

[DiehardCybercard]

Originally Posted by IndySam

A mecanum 101 video would be helpful to many. Also basic pneumatics.

Some videos of the destructive testing AM does would be cool.

Scott can you be more specific on what you mean by a mecanum 101 video?

[1502]

Maybe a "How to wire a FRC Robot" or a "How to select the right motor for the job"?

[KelliV]

Oh man do I have some ideas, but I have to formulate most of them for you first.

I think it would be really cool if you have a section like "AndyMark beyond FIRST" that can feature other uses of AndyMark Products. These can be as simple as featuring the stuff you guys tinker with in the shop or more advanced crowd sourced segments featuring how-tos by teams that use your parts to make t-shirt cannons, other robots, etc.

-Kelli

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by 1502

Maybe a "How to wire a FRC Robot" or a "How to select the right motor for the job"?

Along these lines motor performance testing videos would be interesting.

[John Sabath]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

Along these lines motor performance testing videos would be interesting.

Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes.

[sanddrag]

How to make wiring neat, and why it's important to do so.

[slijin]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

How to make wiring neat, and why it's important to do so.

And on top of this, considerations to make:
- serviceability - I want to be able to swap components on the fly and be able to fix that major problem we find while queuing for eliminations. What do I add to my system, and where, so I can do this?
- routing - I have wires going from my electronics board to motors on this arm. How do I route the wire so that it never catches as the arm moves up and down?
- stress relief - I have wires that if yanked out will break my robot. How do I make sure that they don't get yanked out?
- rules compliance - There are some rules that we can expect to return with 99% certainty, if not 100% - e.g. an accessible, clearly labeled main breaker, appropriately color-coded wiring

Going back to the mecanum 101 video idea, it should contain two parts: first, how and why mecanum drive works like it does (there are so many misconceptions about the theory that it's frightening), and second, what's common to all mecanum drives - 4 individual gearboxes (e.g. toughbox nanos), wheel orientation, control loops, etc. Goes a bit beyond the basics, but something that teams definitely need.

A rundown of how digital sensors work would also be great. I'd like to see an explanation of what a digital signal is, and then an explanation of how the FRC control system works with it, and then it's explained how this applies to sensors that AndyMark offers, like limit switches and optical encoders.

For certain complex products, perhaps an explanation of the product's functionality - e.g. how the dog switches between gears in the supershifter.

And just as a sidenote that I expect you've already thought of, quality video. Some of the guides on the website, while great, are populated with blurry/grainy images, which at times makes it hard to see/understand what's going on.

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by slijin

rules compliance - There are some rules that we can expect to return with 99% certainty, if not 100% - e.g. an accessible, clearly labeled main breaker, appropriately color-coded wiring

even if it isn't a rule, the inspectors would prefer it if you treated it like one. Thus, it might deserve a video regardless of whether or not it makes it into the 2013 rules.

[daniel_dsouza]

Originally Posted by 1502

Maybe a "How to wire a FRC Robot" or a "How to select the right motor for the job"?

I'd like to see a "how to design the best motor + gearbox combo". Some people who may or may not be on our team might need a "how to tell if you are using too much lubricant" video.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by DiehardCybercard

Scott can you be more specific on what you mean by a mecanum 101 video?

A basic how to primmer. Things to do, things to avoid.