So, How do you shift?

[Andy Baker]

We've been using a foot pedal since 2002. This was the preference of the driver. He just wired up a guitar pedal switch and went from there. It works well, but makes the OI cumbersome.


Andy B.

[Mark McLeod]

Our drivers prefer to use 2-sticks, so a button on the left joystick was low gear, another on the right was high gear. We also had a redundent toggle switch on the OI as a backup, but the joystick buttons were what got used.

The driver experimented with a trigger toggle early on, but wanted to be positive of the gear rather than have to remember. The OI had an indicator, but the OI LEDS never get looked at by the driver who never takes his or her eyes off the field. If he or she is unsure they just press the appropriate button again for the gear they want to be in.

[Dan Petrovic]

We use the triggers.

I can't remember if both shift or if it's just the right one, cause that's the only one I use.

[Jeremytice]

Our team uses controllers that we bought at radio shack. They were first usb but then we modified them to ports. We have an automatic 4 speed transmission or it can also be manual. We have a toggle switch so you can choose between manual or automatic. We use encoders when it is in automatic to tell when to shift gears at the best point. When it is in manual we switch gears by the top thumb buttons. When the top thumb button is pushed on the left joystick we downshift but when it is pushed on the right side it shifts up. When we are in automatic or manual you can press the trigger button on either joystick and it will shift down to 1st.

[EricS-Team180]

For the past two years we've used a shift lever attached to a rotary switch with resistors in series. We wire that to an empty aux or wheel pin on an OI joystick port. This gives us an "analog-digital" input. We read that in the FRC and interpret it as a gear request, to send a pwm value to our shifting servos. The shifting itself is open loop. Testing it is a part of our pre-match check-out in the pit.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by EricS-Team180

For the past two years we've used a shift lever attached to a rotary switch with resistors in series. We wire that to an empty aux or wheel pin on an OI joystick port. This gives us an "analog-digital" input. We read that in the FRC and interpret it as a gear request, to send a pwm value to our shifting servos. The shifting itself is open loop. Testing it is a part of our pre-match check-out in the pit.

So, how many speeds to you have?

If you have 4, does one servo switch between the 4 base on how far it moves?

[EricS-Team180]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

So, how many speeds to you have?

If you have 4, does one servo switch between the 4 base on how far it moves?

We've been running 3-Speeds with the "Nothing But Dewalts" gear boxes, since 2005. We center the servo for 2nd gear (so give it 127), and have the full range of the servo in either direction(255 or 0) to give us 1st or 3rd. We typically get about 4, 8 and 12fps max in the 3 gears. Our drivers spend most matches in 1st and 2nd.

[Cuog]

We don't my team hasn't really agreed on the whole multi-speed gearbox

[Athleticgirl389]

We use the buttons on the joystick. Left switches the left and right switches the right. Although it doesn't always work and sometimes gets stuck in a gear... like it did at Monty Madness and Brunswick Eruption.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by EricS-Team180

We've been running 3-Speeds with the "Nothing But Dewalts" gear boxes, since 2005. We center the servo for 2nd gear (so give it 127), and have the full range of the servo in either direction(255 or 0) to give us 1st or 3rd. We typically get about 4, 8 and 12fps max in the 3 gears. Our drivers spend most matches in 1st and 2nd.

Oooh... that should've been obvious to me. Why do you recheck the servos before each match? do they tend to drift or something like that?

[EricS-Team180]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Oooh... that should've been obvious to me. Why do you recheck the servos before each match? do they tend to drift or something like that?

It's the lever attached from servo to shift collar that tends to get loose. We use these small threaded shafts with what I'd just call a turnbuckle (probably not the right word) on them. You can get them from a hobby store that carries R/C airplanes. As they loosen,we tend to not quite make 3rd - accompained by a lovely grinding noise - HA! Also, since competition mode sends out a pwm of 127, we check to see that the 'bot is in 2nd prior to each match. It avoids some ratcheting when autonomous starts. Setting the appropriate gear in auto mode is just one of the things we need to program for. The Dewalts do quite nicely with shift-on-the-fly, so that's not a huge deal.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Another cool way to shift is the throttle wheel at the bottom of the stick. This allows the driver to keep his hands low.

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

Another cool way to shift is the throttle wheel at the bottom of the stick. This allows the driver to keep his hands low.

This is how Team 1114 shifts. We employ single stick drive, and our drivers tend to hold the base of the joystick in their left hand, using their thumb to shift with the throttle wheel.

[Kim Masi]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

Another cool way to shift is the throttle wheel at the bottom of the stick. This allows the driver to keep his hands low.

thats how 177 shifts! its easy cause then the driver just has to use the thumb to rotate the wheel, and it gives a better control of the joystick.

[i like dirt]

Right Trigger- Up Shift/High Gear
Left Trigger - Down Shift/Low Gear