Team 4301 Drivebase "First Steps"

[Whippet]

We finally got our drive base running today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWYtUAKB2Ug

Since then, we have added exponential control ramps to hopefully make it easier to maneuver, which we will test on Monday.

Our superstructure is being assembled offscreen and will be added early this week. This is the best progress we have had this far into the build season before! We may actually be "done" before bag day this time at this rate...

[SenorZ]

Good job.
First year with mecanums? We're using them for the first time as well, along with a gyro so we can go "field frame." It's pretty awesome.

[Whippet]

Yeah, it's our first year with mecanums. We're also planning to use a gyro for field-oriented driving, but I wanted to make sure that the thing was actually controllable before adding that extra level of complexity. What were your team's experiences with the controls at first? I've been finding our joystick inputs to be much more sensitive with the holonomic drive VI than with normal tank steering drive.

[IndySam]

Very nice, I think mecanums are fun and a good choice for this year.

One word of advice, get that thing on carpet for your testing. It will make a huge difference on how it drives.

[SenorZ]

Controls were shaky at first. Turns out we had a couple motors hooked up wrong!
Once that was sorted things went smoother. Still having issues with moving forward/backward while attempting strafing. But with two year old KoP joysticks that have been treated pretty rough I wouldn't expect perfection.
I want the programers to put in some axis isolation buttons, so we can eliminated accidentally getting y-values during strafing... and get better joysticks!

[mega900997]

Looks nice, another piece of advice I'd like to add, make sure that your robot is balanced. If one side is heavier than another or if its not balanced, it will impact the drive.