Team 48-2008-Xtremachen 11

[A_Reed]

Here it is folks Delphi E.L.I.T.E.'s entry in this years game FIRST Overdrive, questions and Comments are welcome.

Xtremachen 11

Our average lap time is ~13 seconds, which might be getting faster and the gripper design and arm are pretty solid.

It is currently on a truck to the Midwest regional and then it will be making stops in Pittsburgh, Buckeye and then onto the Championships in Atlanta.

See you at the Competitions and Good Luck!



P.S. the last odd, few seconds are from our annual pre-ship event don't mind them...lol

[Gabe Salas Jr.]

Nice to see your bot in action... it drives really smooth. I'm jealous that you all have enough time to dance prior to ship.

[DarkFlame145]

did I see tank treads?

[A_Reed]

You most certainly did, during our brainstorming session it was between this and traction wheels and based off of the driving performance of the Half-Tracks at IRI we chose to go with the treads instead.

[DarkFlame145]

It will five ya lots of pushing power

[Qbranch]

*dancing...*

Oh, right. Anyhow, nice robot! Moves really nicely, you're driver is quite smooth. Was hoping to see how your driver handled picking that ball up but the scene cut.

What motor(s) are you using to actuate the different parts of your arm? Also, what regional(s) are you going to?

-q

[A_Reed]

Originally Posted by Qbranch

*dancing...*

Oh, right. Anyhow, nice robot! Moves really nicely, you're driver is quite smooth. Was hoping to see how your driver handled picking that ball up but the scene cut.

What motor(s) are you using to actuate the different parts of your arm? Also, what regional(s) are you going to?

-q

Currently we are using the wrong RS-550 on a bane-bots 144:1 gearbox (plus chain reductions) for the tilting of the arm, that will be replaced in Chicago, the Lift is a Fisher-Price with a 64:1 Bane-Bots(More Chain Reductions) and the Wrist is another Bane-Bots 144:1 to a FP combo with another 8:1 in Chain reductions.

We are attending Midwest, Pittsburgh and Buckeye. We are also pre-registered for the Championship.

[Rohan_DHS]

Best. Video. Ever.

[Faith]

Were those archery targets in the background?

Nice video.

[A_Reed]

yes those were archery targets, our field is setup in the old gym that the school very rarely uses. One of those uses happens to be archery lessons for PE class.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by DarkFlame145

It will five ya lots of pushing power

Actually, I like the halftracks for their balance of traction and maneuverability. The current version with red linatex Brecoflex belts did very well for us at Kettering Kickoff. I'd also like to think they are a more stable driving platform than an equivalent center traction wheels/corner omnis setup - easy enough to turn smoothly, but not TOO easy.

We do have AndyMark Inside - two servo Super Shifters provide direct drive power to the halftracks.

Originally Posted by Qbranch

*dancing...* Oh, right.

Don't make Donnell cry. We need Captain Safety in peak emotional status heading into the competitions, lest our pit organization fall apart.

Anyhow, nice robot! Moves really nicely, you're driver is quite smooth. Was hoping to see how your driver handled picking that ball up but the scene cut.

Ball pickup is a coordinated effort between pilot and copilot. Our drivers have found that herding the trackball into the nearest solid object, along with the "creatively" soldered 1st generation copper grippers you will see coming out of the crate at Midwest (seriously, if you are a plumber or pipefitter, don't even look), periodically at unnecessarily excessive speed, is the best way to grab the thing. Captured by the gripper fingers, the ball pops right up the sloped top of the bot into the waiting gripper palm. Our bumpers (which I must say look very cool, thanks to the promotions team - thanks to Jimmie Johnson for the inspiration) were fabbed and fitted right before ship, so we have yet to practice with those on - that may slightly affect how the trackball is acquired.

Catching a trackball on the run is still something the drive team is pursuing - we are investigating simple passive changes to the gripper in Midwest to improve grip and trackball acquisition on the go.....and oh yeah, soldered joint strength.

All the arm actuations you saw in the video were manually controlled by the copilot - these are replicated by automatic functions - with the limited practice time we had, we wanted the copilots to see just how much skill and concentration it takes to control a tilting, telescoping, wrist-jointed arm holding an 8-pound trackball 78"+ in the air with a pneumatic gripper. Tis not easy, but it would be required should Mr. Potentiometer and Friends fail us during a match.

By the way, we do hurdle, but there is only one cylinder on the entire bot, for the gripper. We planned for a separate "kicker" to help poof the ball over the overpass, but weight limitations currently prevent that. So we'll just use the tilt and a little creative timing to "throw" the thing over. If we can pare out just a wee bit more spare weight, there's also another passive hurdle assist method we might try.

[Mike Harrison]

reallllllyy smooth driving, i didn't see any hopping!

[Maggie27]

That's amazing.

Great idea.

[D_Price]

Nice design and nice lap time.

[Dave Campbell]

Nice work E.L.I.T.E.! We look forward to next week at the Midwest Regional.
You will see a VERY familiar look from 1038 - including alliance color coordinated bumpers - the latest robot fashion craze.
Also wish we had time to "dance" prior to ship, but we left it off the Gantt Chart and Things to do lists....maybe Donnell could take a few seconds to stop by our pit and give Jimmy some lessons?