2012 FRC Team 1717 Uncut

[42!]

Thanks for the answer. It really sheds some light on the design of the module. On another gear question, Does your team manufacture their own bevel gears? Or do you source them from someone else?

[msimon785]

Originally Posted by 42!

Thanks for the answer. It really sheds some light on the design of the module. On another gear question, Does your team manufacture their own bevel gears? Or do you source them from someone else?

I believe in 2011, 1717 used MC #6529K14. They of course finished the bore (hex) and cut down the face width to their needs. Not sure about this year or other years, though. They may have used something different.

[JamesTerm]

Originally Posted by jakemochas

Dear FIRST Community,

Swerve Drive
This video demonstrates the fluid motion of our swerve drive as well as some of the neat features specifically added by our programming team to aid in playing Rebound Rumble. In order to play a game that has its roots from basketball, we thought it would be advantageous for our robot to spin and pivot like a basketball player.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZHaTGiakZM

All of this is absolutely amazing... I gotta ask... would you mind sharing how the controls are mapped to the drive. In particular the spin and pivot. (We like to call this slide turning). Was it intuitive to the driver and useful to have and use?

[msimon785]

Originally Posted by JamesTerm

All of this is absolutely amazing... I gotta ask... would you mind sharing how the controls are mapped to the drive. In particular the spin and pivot. (We like to call this slide turning). Was it intuitive to the driver and useful to have and use?

I know from our mentors that they utilize their gyro to make the controls driver-relative and thus location-aware. In other words, regardless of the orientation of the robot, if the driver moves the joystick forward, the robot will travel away from him. This was done to make it more intuitive to the driver. With that said, I only know this of their 2011 (non-independent) swerve system, and even then you will need a 1717 student to confirm and expand on that.

[Lil' Lavery]

I'd like to shake your programmers' hands.

[Siri]

This is amazing! It was truly an honor to play with you on Newton, and you set the excellence standard for our team. Thank you for all the inspiration you've brought our students (not to mention our mentors).

[Jared Russell]

Oh boy.

Every year our team has a contingent of students (and mentors) who want to build a swerve drive. Every year, we decide to do something different based on our analysis of the game and our team's capabilities. These videos are going to make that conversation a lot more challenging next year.

Hopefully someone from 1717 can elaborate a bit on their swerve implementation, which has been fine-tuned to perfection.

EDIT: What gyro do you use for field-relative control?

[sgreco]

This robot simply amazes me. The accuracy and precision of the shooter is incredible. The pivoting around a wheel, and rotating while moving is just amazing to me.

[CalTran]

Huh. 1717 is not going to IRI? I guess that it makes sense, with the entire team having graduated already...

[Mk.32]

Originally Posted by CalTran

Huh. 1717 is not going to IRI? I guess that it makes sense, with the entire team having graduated already...

I wouldn't mind taking that robot to IRI for them

[R.C.]

1717 is by far one of the best robots in FRC this season. They've been making cool robots since 2007 (since I remember them). Their implementation and quality is unreal. After talking to their mentors, they've built a solid team.

It was great playing with/against you guys at CVR. We were really rooting for you guys to win it all this year! Can't wait to play with you guys next year!

-RC

[stundt1]

Awesome robot does anyone have vide of their elimination semi matches?

[JamesTerm]

Originally Posted by msimon785

I know from our mentors that they utilize their gyro to make the controls driver-relative and thus location-aware. In other words, regardless of the orientation of the robot, if the driver moves the joystick forward, the robot will travel away from him. This was done to make it more intuitive to the driver. With that said, I only know this of their 2011 (non-independent) swerve system, and even then you will need a 1717 student to confirm and expand on that.

Thanks for the heads up and this was an idea we considered for last year's game (especially since most of the time the robot was facing you), but given what is said here... I feel there is a missing piece to the puzzle... A gyro can give delta's of angular acceleration but what can ensure the robot's heading is calibrated? Is there some point of reference that can be sensed dynamically while rotating?

I'll be anxious to hear how/if they solved that problem.

[JVN]

Very, very VERY impressive. I wish I had gotten a closer look in St Louis.
Kudos to 1717 on such an amazingly capable machine. Everyone involved with that robot should be VERY proud.

Each year we are given an engineering challenge. Each year we all struggle to pull some engineering excellence out of our hat and create the perfect robot for the challenge. This robot certainly just drips in engineering excellence. Even without a Championship win, this robot represents a HUGE success.

I'd love to hear more about the process that went into the creation of this beast:
What sorts of iteration did you go through?
What systems came together quickly, which ones did you struggle with?
What decisions came easy, and which ones did you debate most?

Thanks for dropping my jaw!
-John

PS - This is the first time in a looong time I've been impressed with a swerve drive. I feel bad for all the teams next year who will be inspired to do swerve thinking they'll end up with something like this, only to be... surprised by what they actually end up with.

[BJC]

Originally Posted by JVN

Very, very VERY impressive. I wish I had gotten a closer look in St Louis.
Kudos to 1717 on such an amazingly capable machine. Everyone involved with that robot should be VERY proud.

Each year we are given an engineering challenge. Each year we all struggle to pull some engineering excellence out of our hat and create the perfect robot for the challenge. This robot certainly just drips in engineering excellence. Even without a Championship win, this robot represents a HUGE success.

I'd love to hear more about the process that went into the creation of this beast:
What sorts of iteration did you go through?
What systems came together quickly, which ones did you struggle with?
What decisions came easy, and which ones did you debate most?

Thanks for dropping my jaw!
-John

PS - This is the first time in a looong time I've been impressed with a swerve drive. I feel bad for all the teams next year who will be inspired to do swerve thinking they'll end up with something like this, only to be... surprised by what they actually end up with.

I will reitterate all of what Mr. V-Neun said. I absolutely love this robot and would love to hear more about your teams design process and build season schedual.

I'm already looking forward to seeing what you build next year,
Regards, Bryan