[FRC Blog] Veteran Team Drive Base Option and Registration Progress

[DanielPlotas]

Originally Posted by nerdrock101

I didn't think of a manipulator, but maybe a more passive object. Like a hitch for a scoring bucket, perhaps?

I miss Lunacy.

I'd assume that if it was on the KOP chassis it would be available from Andymark as soon as the game is released.

[Mr V]

Count me as a Robot Inspector as disapointed in the fact that bumper mounting brackets will not be included in this year's KOP. While not perfect it did help those low resource teams have a much greater chance of creating a decent bumper mounting system.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by DanielPlotas

I'd assume that if it was on the KOP chassis it would be available from Andymark as soon as the game is released.

Yes, we plan to have the 2017 kit drive system available on the website immediately after Kickoff. And maybe some other good stuff too.

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by bobbysq

This is really interesting. Does this mean it'll have some form of manipulator/launcher attached already?

They've had that language in previous announcements about the kitbot opt-out.

https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/s...43&postcount=1

Originally Posted by 2017

Features are such that they enable a team to execute basic elements of game play.

Originally Posted by 2016

Features are designed such that they enable a team to execute basic elements of game play.

[tjwolter]

Ugh. We found the KoP bumper mounting system to be so "anti-robust" as to be near useless. One project I may suggest to this years's team is a "Bumper Hospital" to help struggling teams on the Thursday of tournament. Some decent iron on numbers, a double handful of seriously sturdy bumper mounts. I saw too many teams expending effort for poor results.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

Just out of curiosity, are there any teams that intend to make a custom drivetrain for the 2017 season but will NOT opt out of the KOP drivetrain? The $450 voucher is nice, but is having a KOP chassis on hand for prototyping or if something goes wrong on your intended drivetrain useful enough that you get the KOP chassis with no intention of using it in competition?

125 has typically gotten the KOP chassis and built it with the teams that come to kitbot build day. It is then often used as a testbed for software and electronics.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Yes, we plan to have the 2017 kit drive system available on the website immediately after Kickoff. And maybe some other good stuff too.

I hope it's game pieces!

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Christopher149

They've had that language in previous announcements about the kitbot opt-out.

https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/s...43&postcount=1

The past language was new last year, and seemed to correlate with how the drive base alone could score points. The implication is that you can get some sort of bonus with just the drive base this year.

Now, that could be as simple as the 2014 "drive forward at all in auton" bonus, in a game without other drive-to-score objectives, but it does imply that a drive base can play some aspect of the game.

[Ryan Dognaux]

We're getting the KOP drive again this year. We ended up using it last year and I wish we would have had it from day 1. AndyMark does a great job on this drive base and the majority of teams should heavily consider using it.

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by Bkeeneykid

We did this in 2015, but only after realizing it would be a massive pain to attach Mechanum wheels onto the AM14U2. We kept it around and came in very useful for 2016.

We did attach 6" Mecanums to the AM14U2 for the 2015 season, and yes, it was a pain.

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

We wanted to make sure we could help rookie and young teams build it properly.

That makes sense. Often, some of the teams from the greater Knoxville area will all build the KOP chassis with any rookie teams we have, but my team hasn't done that the past few years.

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

125 has typically gotten the KOP chassis and built it with the teams that come to kitbot build day. It is then often used as a testbed for software and electronics.

I really wish we had put together the KOP chassis and immediately started driving on defenses in the first few days after kick-off. We severely over-estimated the defenses, and didn't adjust our design in time to increase our scoring capabilities. Driving a little bit early on might have shown us that getting over the B and D defenses was not the monumental task we thought it was at first.

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

We're getting the KOP drive again this year. We ended up using it last year and I wish we would have had it from day 1. AndyMark does a great job on this drive base and the majority of teams should heavily consider using it.

My team has used the KOP chassis or a modified version of it all four years of our existence. It's worked well for us, but my team is hoping to make the switch to a WCD using the VersaFrame products. Mounting things to our frame has always been a poorly thought-out process for us, and I hope the VersaFrame system will at least force the designers to figure out mounting BEFORE Weeks 5 & 6. Also, I think the process of making a chassis from scratch (sort of) will let the students and designers actually think through how the drivetrain works, and let them have a little control over the most important part of the robot.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

I really wish we had put together the KOP chassis and immediately started driving on defenses in the first few days after kick-off. We severely over-estimated the defenses, and didn't adjust our design in time to increase our scoring capabilities. Driving a little bit early on might have shown us that getting over the B and D defenses was not the monumental task we thought it was at first.

Even if you don't have the code stuff up and running yet, 125 did a lot of testing with a plywood base, an old PDB, and some vic 884s controlled with a cheap 4 channel hobby receiver and a transmitter I had sitting around. Instead of going through a lot of revisions with "precision" methods to find what was catching on defenses simply drive over, if it gets stuck cut it off with a hack saw.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

if it gets stuck cut it off with a hack saw.

Or add more CIMs and break some defense pins.

[ctt956]

Originally Posted by marshall

I hope it's game pieces!

Game pieces that aren't overpriced, hopefully!

Originally Posted by Chris is me

The past language was new last year, and seemed to correlate with how the drive base alone could score points. The implication is that you can get some sort of bonus with just the drive base this year.

Now, that could be as simple as the 2014 "drive forward at all in auton" bonus, in a game without other drive-to-score objectives, but it does imply that a drive base can play some aspect of the game.

I'm not sure if 2014 had the drive forward auto bonus, but I think 2015 did. In Arial Assist, it was probably possible to score with just a drive base, as it could push balls into the low goals and/or catch them. With Recycle Rush, a drive-only robot could score a maximum of 2 points at a time by pushing one tote onto the step, though other robots could add to the stack. Defense is an option for a "just drive" robot if possible(no defense in 2015).

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by ctt956

Game pieces that aren't overpriced, hopefully!



I'm not sure if 2014 had the drive forward auto bonus...

It did. 5 points, I believe.

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

My team has used the KOP chassis or a modified version of it all four years of our existence. It's worked well for us, but my team is hoping to make the switch to a WCD using the VersaFrame products. Mounting things to our frame has always been a poorly thought-out process for us, and I hope the VersaFrame system will at least force the designers to figure out mounting BEFORE Weeks 5 & 6. Also, I think the process of making a chassis from scratch (sort of) will let the students and designers actually think through how the drivetrain works, and let them have a little control over the most important part of the robot.

I will say that the versaframe system is very good as well. We used the versaframe style of building everywhere on top of the kit of parts drive last year and it worked out great. Regardless of which one you choose, you still need to think about system integration and that's where doing a bit of CAD upfront really helps.

Even creating a WCD using the versa system from scratch will take a little longer than just assembling the kit of parts drive base. We saved probably 3-4 days last year of fabrication and assembly compared to assembling a WCD. Make sure your time and resources wouldn't be better spent on what goes on top of the drive train.