Bomb Squad 2015: Two Minute Warning

[barn34]

Another awesome machine from the Bomb Squad. Looking forward to sharing the field with you guys again in Arkansas!

[AlecMataloni]

Is that a CIM-less drivetrain? Dang, that's so old school.

Nice robot! Wish I could see it, but I likely won't be at any of your competitions. Best of luck this season!

[CalTran]

Question - when was the last time that Bomb Squad had a tall robot? Looking as amazing as ever this year, and that swerve driving is just soooo smooth.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by CalTran

Question - when was the last time that Bomb Squad had a tall robot? Looking as amazing as ever this year, and that swerve driving is just soooo smooth.

2011.

[CTbiker105]

I can only imagine how useful it will be to have each tote and bin supported by an individual hook. Already I've seen a lot of tipping when teams try to move around stacks of 4+ totes.

What was the inspiration behind the name of this year's bot?

[jmeissner]

In the early days of Team 16 our robot's name was 2-Minute Warning. This was based on the 2 minute matches that they had back in 1996. We thought it was a great way to commemorate our 20 seasons of robotics.

[Jefferson]

Originally Posted by AlecMataloni

Is that a CIM-less drivetrain? Dang, that's so old school.

It sure is. CIMs are heavy.

[Fanny Z]

Love the bin grabbers, love the robot!

[Jefferson]

Originally Posted by cmrnpizzo14

Those arms are so nifty! I can't think of a better word to use. How many totes can you stack at one time? Your elevator doesn't seem to be the most efficient design in terms of space.

We can hold/stack 5 at a time. The spacing was intentional in order to completely raise the bottom tote we are holding above the next tote to be picked up. Given the other constraints around the robot and other objectives, we couldn't get 6 totes and have sufficient spacing. Therefore, we maximized the amount of space between totes to make the pickup as fast as possible.

[Jefferson]

Originally Posted by JesseK

My my, those hooks look beautiful. Love this design; it's just like industrial manufacturers and warehouses would do this job.

That looks familiar.

Can y'all pick long-ways also? It seems to be more forgiving that way.

[Jefferson]

Originally Posted by CTbiker105

I can only imagine how useful it will be to have each tote and bin supported by an individual hook. Already I've seen a lot of tipping when teams try to move around stacks of 4+ totes.

Those hooks went through a lot of iterations to get them just right, but it's made for a super-solid hold on the totes. I have tested their sturdiness on several occasions with over zealous poor controls. They definitely don't come out of there easily.

[holygrail]

Awesome bot as always. I'm jealous of how awesome the container grabber is. Can't wait to see you all again at Rock City. It is always a good time.

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by Jefferson

That looks familiar.

Can y'all pick long-ways also? It seems to be more forgiving that way.

We can, but there's extra tote sag. We have a kicker which is connected to the same tubes as the brake. The kicker prevents sag on the bottom-most tote, but we have issues if the kicker moves too fast or pushes too hard. We're working on a deeper hook design for Pittsburgh next week, so hopefully that resolves that issue. In retrospect, we like the sag on the upper totes since they rest against the 2 vertical rails, keeping them stable during turns.

It's refreshing to see another team pick a very similar design and have success with it. I know some of the struggles you went through to get this working correctly. For me it was one of the most challenging designs my team has ever put together, but it was worth it.

If we find anything to help with some of its nuances, we'll share notes after Pitt!

[Addison4300]

I love your dual container grabbing claw!

[JTN]

Originally Posted by JesseK

It's refreshing to see another team pick a very similar design and have success with it. I know some of the struggles you went through to get this working correctly. For me it was one of the most challenging designs my team has ever put together, but it was worth it.

If we find anything to help with some of its nuances, we'll share notes after Pitt!

Yeah, we went through about 10 iterations of the tote tab design. We finally settled on something acceptable, but positive change is always welcome.