Strange Swerve 4.0 Triple Strange 1533

[Brainiac33]

Introducing, Strange Swerve 4.0!

This summer our team designed and created our fourth swerve iteration in preparation for next year's challenge! We have managed to use swerve in the past two game challenges and hope to continue. Strange Swerve 4.0 is lighter, and more robust than our previous 2016 design, weighing in at 5.4lbs per module. For comparison, in our previous modules, our motors alone weighed in at 4.1lbs. Our design is using mainly water cut parts, one of which is a custom 100 tooth gear. We have an encoder on both our rotation and drive motors. The rest is standard vex gears, gearboxes and wheels. Here are some pictures of the module:










Going a little more technical, our main plate is sandwiched by the 100 tooth gear and a top plate, all of these parts have grooves designed to hold bearings. This allows us to continuously rotate our wheel on the custom bearing. Here are some of the renders from our 3D step models that we will release soon, as we fully intend on using them in 2017.








Comments, feedback, and questions are welcome! You can help us brainstorm some improvements for our design if you wish, or we can explain something on our module more in depth.

[frcguy]

Very cool. Is there any way we can get the CAD?

[asid61]

Very cool! There's so many things I love about this module!
1. Waterjet everything!
2. lightweight!
3. Compact!
4. Double custom ball bearing!
5. Versawheels!
6. Low profile!

Very good job, and I hope I can see it in action next year.
How is the single reduction VP + 100 tooth gear working out? It looks like you're running something close to 10:1 x 100:36, which ends up around 576 rpm, which is very fast for a swerve module. I would change to a 2-stage VP, but that's about the only way I could see this die. The 100 tooth custom gear seems like extra work when you could use an 84t gear instead, but you seem to have good use of the extra space.

The only thing I can see bad about this in the long run is that it might be difficult to integrate a CIM into it, unless you weld a 3/8" hex onto the output shaft for the bevel gear.
I would love to see the CAD for this, if you're willing to part with it.

[Cothron Theiss]

Looks awesome! How are you making the groove in the gear for the ball bearings?

[ahartnet]

very cool design in a lot of ways. I like the plate being sandwhiched with the grooves for bearings.

I'm sure someone will chime in and tell me I'm wrong - and maybe y'all have tested it and can tell me I'm wrong...but I wouldn't want to use the 775pros for a drive motor. If you get in a pushing match or need to play defense you'll risk burning a motor or at least decreasing its life span. At least with the new VPv2's it could be a quick change out - but I wouldnt risk it personally.

[cad321]

Originally Posted by asid61

The only thing I can see bad about this in the long run is that it might be difficult to integrate a CIM into it, unless you weld a 3/8" hex onto the output shaft for the bevel gear.

What would prevent them from using a CIM on the current VP using the adapter sold by VEXPro?

[asid61]

Originally Posted by cad321

What would prevent them from using a CIM on the current VP using the adapter sold by VEXPro?

That's a really good solution, apart from increasing the height of the module a bit.

[dmpage318]

Originally Posted by asid61

How is the single reduction VP + 100 tooth gear working out? It looks like you're running something close to 10:1 x 100:36, which ends up around 576 rpm, which is very fast for a swerve module. I would change to a 2-stage VP, but that's about the only way I could see this die.

Both VP gearboxes will likely have a second stage added once we get all the modules together. We just put in single 10:1's for initial testing and you're right, it's EXTREMELY fast.

[Noudvanbrunscho]

Very very nice, reminds me of the module from 696 in 2015.
I have a question about your gears, are they custom made or where did you buy them?

And what is the total weight of the module?

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by Noudvanbrunscho

Very very nice, reminds me of the module from 696 in 2015.
I have a question about your gears, are they custom made or where did you buy them?

And what is the total weight of the module?

Originally Posted by Brainiac33

...weighing in at 5.4lbs per module...
...Our design is using mainly water cut parts, one of which is a custom 100 tooth gear. We have an encoder on both our rotation and drive motors. The rest is standard vex gears...

...

[Noudvanbrunscho]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

...

Ooh oops, missed that part, went directly for the photo's. Thanks!

[iyportne]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

Looks awesome! How are you making the groove in the gear for the ball bearings?

Grooves in all plates made the same way. Mount plates on fixture in lathe and use a 1/4" Dia parting tool to cut out groove.

https://youtu.be/vE3397650W4

[iyportne]

Originally Posted by cad321

What would prevent them from using a CIM on the current VP using the adapter sold by VEXPro?

Nothing...the plan was to make a perfectly scalable module..the power choices and ratios are now all in the versa gearbox, not the mechanical structure. Everything from lightweight and lightning fast to slow and powerful.

I know we'll never win the CD debate about Swerve vs. WCD...but let me just say if you are designing Swerve for pushing matches, you're kinda' missing the whole point anyway.

[iyportne]

Originally Posted by Noudvanbrunscho

...I have a question about your gears, are they custom made or where did you buy them?

Only custom gear is the housing gear. All others are COTS. Note that housing bearing/gear design would be scalable to any turret, turn-table or arm pivot and prevent those frustrating (yet awesome to look at) sheared gearbox shafts.

[marshall]

Well done!