pic: Wave Robotics Drive Teaser

[Chris is me]

I knew you guys would put out another quality machine this year, and that's what this teaser looks like to me! I certainly am hoping history repeats itself in MN.

Are the omni - traction pairs offset or on the same side?

[Tom Line]

That is an awesome design. I'm curious - when you're driving on flat ground, how to you insure that your bumper stays in the mandatory bumper zone? Obviously you must be using some type of automated articulation.... pneumatics perhaps?

[Greg Needel]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

That is an awesome design. I'm curious - when you're driving on flat ground, how to you insure that your bumper stays in the mandatory bumper zone? Obviously you must be using some type of automated articulation.... pneumatics perhaps?

Why would they need to have some automated articulation to accomplish this? Assuming they have 2 modules on either side pivoting like they are, the distance to the bumper from the pivot is fixed so no control would be necessary on flat ground since the axis through the pivots would be parallel to the ground

[Jamie Kalb]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

Why would they need to have some automated articulation to accomplish this? Assuming they have 2 modules on either side pivoting like they are, the distance to the bumper from the pivot is fixed so no control would be necessary on flat ground since the axis through the pivots would be parallel to the ground

Um ... I don't get it. Yes, the pivot point is at a fixed hight, but, without active articulation, doesn't the bumper frame pivot like a seesaw on that pivot point? And is there some rule that I missed that makes that legal?

I'm sure you guys have already figured this out, I'm just trying to catch up.

[hillale]

It's hard to tell by the pic, but the size is a left up to interpretation. I'm guessing they have 4 total modules, but with the aspect of the picture it's hard to tell and they might just have 2 modules (one on each side) implying the "see-saw" effect J-rizzle is talking about.

[Jamie Kalb]

Originally Posted by hillale

It's hard to tell by the pic, but the size is a left up to interpretation. I'm guessing they have 4 total modules, but with the aspect of the picture it's hard to tell and they might just have 2 modules (one on each side) implying the "see-saw" effect J-rizzle is talking about.

Oh! Gotcha. Good clarification.

[Mark Holschuh]

It looks great! Obviously you have access to more machine equipment than your team had last year. We're looking forward to seeing it sometime soon at the EAA.

[Tyler Olds]

Thanks for the compliments and questions, I will try to do my best with some answers!

The drive is made of a "longitudinal walking beam" rigid module on both sides and pivots sing a shaft with two bearings. The suspension is composed of springs and dampers using a pneumatic cylinder that is pressurized. To reduce the weight of putting a compressor on the robot and to counter-act the “see-saw” effect, we are using a linear actuator that will lock the suspension in place when traveling on flat ground. To help with going up the bump diagonally, we decided to use Omni wheels (double wide on each side) on the backside of the robot. The effect of this is whenever we go over a bump at an angle; the robot will actually center itself automatically. It does work if we go over backwards, but not as well. The robot also has 8” of cross-wheel travel when the suspension is unlocked.

I hope this helps clarify some of the features on our robot. Please feel free to post any more questions (or compliments of course )

[Chris is me]

I love it.

I think this year there will be two classes of competitive robots: Robots that can repeatedly and reliably go over the bump with insane flexibility, and variations on your standard 6 wheel drive (with 8 wheels, or big wheels) that trade a little less bump security for added traction on the ground. A winning alliance will need to have both of these to be as successful as possible, IMO.

I know I've already given my props (or "sucked up" depending on how you wish to put it), but I still think stuff like this is SUPER COOL.

[rath358]

Wow. That looks amazing. Something tells me that you guys are going to clean up again.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Jamie Kalb

Um ... I don't get it. Yes, the pivot point is at a fixed hight, but, without active articulation, doesn't the bumper frame pivot like a seesaw on that pivot point?

It would seesaw if there weren't another point holding it up somewhere else. The robot has more than four wheels.

[EricLeifermann]

They will have springs to keep it from seesawing when on flat ground

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

That is an awesome design. I'm curious - when you're driving on flat ground, how to you insure that your bumper stays in the mandatory bumper zone? Obviously you must be using some type of automated articulation.... pneumatics perhaps?

Notice that the two wheels shown are both on the same solid piece of metal. When they are touching the floor, the pivot point is going to be at a certain height just because of geometry. No active control is needed.