Rookie FRC Team 4209 TigerBytes Week 5 Update

[familyguyfreak]

Almost done!!

[Brandon Holley]

PACMAN! Love it.

-Brando

[Marc S.]

Depending on how many motors you guys are using, it appears that your bot could easily be changed to where all 4 cim motors are in drive. Instead of using 2 cims for the shooter use 4(or 2) 550's with CIM-U-LATOR gearboxes. This will greatly improve the power of your drivetrain. I also recommend adding 2 wheels in the center of your robot(should be very easy with the kitbot frame) to make it easier to turn.

These simple changes will greatly improve the preformance of your robot. Here's why, and here's some instructions if your feeling a little confused. I hope this helps and good luck this season.

[Taylor]

If you take your robot onto carpet, you may find some difficulty in turning, since you've got four relatively "sticky" wheels, one at each corner. That's why he said this:

Originally Posted by Marc S.

I also recommend adding 2 wheels in the center of your robot(should be very easy with the kitbot frame) to make it easier to turn.

Another possibility would be to change either the front wheels or the back wheels to slick wheels from 2010 or omni wheels. If you do choose omnis, you may find the Dualies will give you a smoother ride (although they are a bit more expensive).
Looks like a solid design; with some minor tweaks you'll be a force on the field.

[familyguyfreak]

Thanks guys for the advice!! I've suggested omni wheels and I believe we will switch to them before the competition. Majority of the focus has been to get the shooter finalized because we honestly didn't know if we were going to be able to pull it off. I will share this information with the other mentors in our meeting this week. Thanks again for the information and help!!

Awesome design!Please add Pacman eyes and little ghost drawings on the side of your frame! And name it something appropriate of the theme. I look forward to seeing this rookie bot in competition! Good luck!

[familyguyfreak]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Awesome design!Please add Pacman eyes and little ghost drawings on the side of your frame! And name it something appropriate of the theme. I look forward to seeing this rookie bot in competition! Good luck!

Haha!! That's actually what the kids have suggested we do!!

[Dan-o]

Thank you all for the suggestions. We don't yet have an accurate weight, but we believe we have some room to spare. If we confirm this, we should be able to at least add the extra wheels.

What is everyone's thought on non-powered center-drop wheels?

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by Dan-o

What is everyone's thought on non-powered center-drop wheels?

Non-powered wheels are rarely a good idea. Wheels support the weight of the robot; the weight they bear gives them traction and lets them help propel/turn the robot. If there are non-driven wheels in contact with the playing field, they provide neither propulsion nor steering capabilities, making them virtually useless. Especially as the drop wheels in a 6WD - that guarantees that half your drivetrain is always non-powered; theoretically those wheels would bear the most of the robot's weight as well. That would be a tremendous waste of resource.

Perhaps a professional can give you a more detailed, math- and physics-infused answer, but to my NEM mind, it makes sense.

In the kit of parts, there were some double sprockets. Looking at your drive train, perhaps you could replace the sprockets on your rear wheels with double sprockets; keep the inside chain run as it is, and set the outside chain to the middle wheel. That would be very simple to implement and cause minimal change to your chassis.

[JamesCH95]

I'd be concerned about:

[R33]
Bumpers must be supported by the structure/frame of the Robot (i.e. each end of the Bumper must be rigidly attached to the Frame Perimeter, the gap between the backing material and the frame must not be greater than ¼ in. and no section of Bumper greater than 8 in. may be unsupported). See Figure 4‑7.

It doesn't look like you could adequately secure and support the bumpers for 8in onto the intake side of your frame. Just a thought to double-check.

Otherwise it looks good!

[MysterE]

Team 4209 is doing an amazing job this year. You'll do Baton Rouge proud!