Cyber Blue 234 Swerve Video

[Chris Fultz]

Here is the link to the video of the first drive test of the Cyber Swerve detailed in other threads. After a little bench testing, we put the robot on the floor, and it worked the first time!

We'll continue to refine and speed up the controls and work with getting some drivers identified and trained.

If the 2010 game calls for a swerve, we should be able to use these lessons learned to hit the ground running.

LINK

[Chris is me]

Awesome! (And clever mechanical stop on the front steering sprocket).

Have you guys tried tank turning in either the long or wide orientation? How does that go?

[ajlapp]

Is that masking tape on the modules? If yes, is it for visual feedback, gearbox sealing....both?

Let this video be a testament to how much work it takes to build a successful swerve system. Even with an 80/20 chassis and off-the-shelf swerve modules, it still took months of development to get the system up and running.

The result of this hard work is obvious though.....smooth control and fewer problems.

Any teams that do decide to use Wild Swerve modules, or base their own designs on the concept will be much further ahead thanks to the great work of frc234 and frc111.

Awesome job. I can't wait to see it in person.

[Chris Fultz]

Tank drive works well.

We used tank mode with two joysticks early on, and now it works with one joy stick.

The wheel chair wheels grab the concrete and hop some, so we are getting some scrap carpet to lay down.

The masking tape is on to keep the bearing grease from getting all over everything.

[AdamHeard]

You are probably already well aware of this, but you really shouldn't tune the steering control loops unless it's at full weight and on the field surface.

We tuned ours initially on smooth concrete at 55 lbs.... Which worked horribly on carpet at 55 lb. Tuned it again for carpet and 55 lbs, then when brought to full weight it worked horribly.

[Brandon Holley]

Looks awesome guys, extremely smooth

congrats on a job well done!

Brando

[gallo26]

Since i see two motors steering the modules, have you guys thought about removing the link between the front and rear modules to create car steering? We did that 2003-2005, and it was awesome that we had 4 driving styles to go through. Tank, Crab, 2 wheel car, and 4 wheel car.

Very nice though! I'm very impressed!

Bryan

[Collin Fultz]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Have you guys tried tank turning in either the long or wide orientation? How does that go?

The tank steer turning works decently in "long" orientation and good in "wide" orientation.

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

You are probably already well aware of this, but you really shouldn't tune the steering control loops unless it's at full weight and on the field surface.

Good thought. Since we don't know what the field surface will be next year or what the weight limits will be this year, we will just try to tune the controls with the current set up, so that we can learn how to approach that problem. That's a good thing to remember for build season though, thank you.

Originally Posted by gallo26

Since i see two motors steering the modules, have you guys thought about removing the link between the front and rear modules to create car steering?

This is a good thought and something we'd have to look at once next year's game is announced. If the ability to drive it like a car would add an advantage, it is something we could look at implementing. To be honest, we hadn't really thought about that option, so thanks for bringing it up.

Again, a huge thanks goes out to Anthony Lapp (Team 221 LLC) and to WildStang for sharing this amazing technology. This willingness is what makes FIRST so unique and what keeps many of us mentors coming back, year after year.

Now all we've got to do is train some drivers...

Here's to Jan 9, 2010.

[Jay TenBrink]

Looks good. I agree that the front and rear pods should be able to steer separately to allow for the maximum flexibility: 4 wheel steer, crab steer, or skid steer.

I would also strongly recommend that before you spend too much time programming that you ballast your experimental drive unit to the full weight of a competition robot with a representative center of gravity.

Best of luck!

[Chris Fultz]

We reviewed several options for the steering and chose to focus on a regular swerve for now, with steps taken to "assure" all four wheels were working together.

We added the connection across the back wheels as a "safety" to be sure all four wheels would do the same thing. Similarly, just one of the globes will turn the modules, having both of them adds some redundancy.

With this set up we are paired front and rear on each side and would not have a straightforward way to separate into car type steering.

And yes, we agree on the weight comments. We are getting carpet for the floor and have made provisions on the chassis to be able to add weight to get us close to 130 pounds.

[Dave Scheck]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

With this set up we are paired front and rear on each side and would not have a straightforward way to separate into car type steering.

Depending on how much rotation you have in the system (the pot is the first limiting factor, the mechanical limits are the other), you may be able to do car steering by looking at it from a different perspective. If you treat the left or right side as the front of the robot and add a little trickery in the software, you could have the car steering while driving in the narrow orientation. It obviously all depends on the game and the way the robot is designed, but it's something that you could throw in your bag of tricks.