pic: 3928 Swerve Module

[Jared Russell]

When Aren started talking about this concept, I was convinced it was a joke. That any team - let alone a rookie team - actually built a swerve drive with a CIM motor as an axle absolutely blows my mind.

[Taylor]

What is the weight of the assembled module as shown?
How do the modules attach to the chassis?
What is the maximum allowable horizontal rotation, and how do you keep the CIM motor wires safe and secure?
I'm having trouble envisioning the other side of the module. Do you have a pic handy that shows the "back"?

[Akash Rastogi]

What's cool is that Aren's students were the ones who really wanted to pull off the swerve. We knew Aren was crazy before he even proposed the design, but now there's a whole team of crazies! Glad it's finally out in public. I hope people finally understand the Aren Hill drillbit meme on Facebook haha.

[IKE]

CD to IKE: "You cannot give credit to the same post twice."
IKE to CD: "If a 3928 can pull off a swerve module like that, then they deserve double credit."

Bravo to 3928.

[Adam Freeman]

Aren,

I am usually not a very big swerve drive fan, but this is awesome!

Very inspiring!

[wireties]

Ingenious and elegant! - does that banebots turn it quickly enough? We had a swerve for lunacy but turning reliably (lots more torque reqd on carpet) and quickly the next year was tough. This design is much more compact and more clever though.

Any worries about radial loading on the CIM shaft? Or is is coupled (can't see the other side)?

Wow. That is one heck of a swerve module. Bravo to your rookies for not only wanting to take on the challenge, but also completing it in a way that is just magnificent. I expect great things from this team. They built one of the best swerve modules their rookie year. Let's see them do better next year.

Great job 3928! Keep building at a little under the speed of light! (sorry but you've been disproved. )

[s_forbes]

Had to do a double take on this one. Love it to death. Major props for pulling it off!

[Ryan Dognaux]

Now that's a cool idea. What's the overall reduction? Any chance we can get a side view to see the CIM motor going through the wheel assembly?

[Bill_B]

Apparently the only thing you cannot use a CIM for is a flotation device in our eventual water game.

I, too, would like to see more pictures. Or .dwf?

[Katie_UPS]

I wish our students were around to answer your questions and explain all the work they did, but unfortunately most of them are way on a band trip.

Originally Posted by DampRobot

Wow, this looks amazing! I like the belt tensioning system. A few quick questions:
Also, I know Aren_Hill famously said that a swerve drive should be built on the offseason and then given a year to sit before putting it on a competition robot. (I'm sorry, I can't find the quote right now.) What lead you to decide that a swerve was needed to be competitive, despite the fact your rookie team had never done one?

Our students have played around with a swerve in the off-season, so they knew more about one than most rookie teams. We were fortunate enough to get a set of incredibly bright kids who are capable of such feats after only having a few months of experience.

Originally Posted by Taylor

What is the weight of the assembled module as shown?
How do the modules attach to the chassis?
What is the maximum allowable horizontal rotation, and how do you keep the CIM motor wires safe and secure?
I'm having trouble envisioning the other side of the module. Do you have a pic handy that shows the "back"?

-About six pounds
- If you look, you'll see a plate above the turning gear. We attached that to our bellypan.
- If I'm not mistaken, the plan was for about 360 degrees with a bit of overlap (so that there isn't a dead spot) (Aren might swoop in and correct me on this one).

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

What's cool is that Aren's students were the ones who really wanted to pull off the swerve. We knew Aren was crazy before he even proposed the design, but now there's a whole team of crazies! Glad it's finally out in public. I hope people finally understand the Aren Hill drillbit meme on Facebook haha.

We at least talked them down from swerve AND a turret.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

If I'm not mistaken, the plan was for about 360 degrees with a bit of overlap

If it is indeed 360 degrees, it would most interesting to see how they route and/or suspend the CIM power lines.

Also, I don't see a steering angle sensor. Is it hiding in plain sight?

[Aren_Hill]

Originally Posted by Ether

If it is indeed 360 degrees, it would most interesting to see how they route and/or suspend the CIM power lines.

Also, I don't see a steering angle sensor. Is it hiding somewhere?

The CIM wires are ran up the polycarb in the picture then have some inline spade connectors (for if they go haywire) attaching them to the wires stuck on the encoder mount that is above the module.

The steering encoder (ma3 from usdigital) is mounted above the center of the module on the polycarb hoop into a 3d printed adapter, the body of it is held on another lexan bracket that reaches from the side of the frame over the top of the module.

[runneals]

Kudos to our awesome team of swerve mod builders! Got to hold it the other day and it's pretty cool what they came up with... Weather or not we'll stick with the same design this year is to be seen.

[NXTGeek]

Wow. What a CIM placement!