Consideration of 4463 Drive Module (am-2433)

[jalmos]

We are a rookie team and looking for advice.

We are considering ordering the 4463 Drive Module (am-2433), but wonder if it is worth the cost and if anyone one there has any advice for a 2 year team.

Are there any other parts that may be needed to make it work. I see Anymark says that a Encoder and cable is not included. Is that truely needed and/or what does it do for this system. We are thinking about ordering two of they for our drive system.


Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jalmos

[jalmos]

Advice for a second year team using this part....

[eedoga]

So a couple of things...The part you are looking at is an all in one solution. You buy that partor well 2 of them I think... and Bob's your uncle you have a drivetrain.

Something to consider...The part is 30 inches long. Two of them make up 60 inches, and the end bar will add another 5 inches overall of frame perimeter using 65 inches total. Given that you get 112 that means your robot can only be about 23 inches wide. each side is about 4 inches wide using up 8 of those 23 inches leaving just 15 inches in the middle. where your sub systems for shooting and loading disks go. unless you go up, which you will probably have to do. (someone please check my math on this one.)

I am more of a roll your own kind of guy, but if it works for your team and fits into your design this could be a really big time saver.

Hope this helps, and before I did anything I would want to model the whole thing in Autodesk Inventor...but that is just me.

Edoga

[jalmos]

Thanks for the help. What does or is the encorder that andymark says is it included with this part.

Jalmos

[nuttle]

An encoder is a sensor that can give you information on position, from which you can get velocity and even acceleration information. In this case, we're talking about rotational position, or how far something has turned. For a drive base, this can let you know how far you've travelled, help to keep you going in a straight line, or even detect wheel slip. For a shooter, this can help you control how fast a wheel is spinning, to get more consistent shots. But this requires hooking the encoder up and writing software to take the information from the encoder and use it to control the motors. A little searching should turn up a lot more on this topic...

[GDG 2337]

We host a Rookie workshop after kickoff. We strongly encouraged teams to consider using the KoP frame this year. We also provided information on Kitbot on steroids from FRC 1114. The kit of part frame is easily adapted to different shapes/sizes and is an excellent platform to build upper structures on with readily available parts from AM.