Redesigning the Driver Station

[JByland]

Hello all. I'm a member of team 1712. We're thinking of redesigning our driver station- ours is a bit too heavy and large. We're looking for something good for people who are small of stature- I was wondering if anyone could share some suggestions about your driver stations, or others' you find interesting- as of now we're open to anything.

[Toa Circuit]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=114633
Here's ours. It's made of two pieces of 1/4" thick corrugated plastic signboard, painted black. We love corrugated plastic. (Of course, being a farmer with lots of old crop signs helps... )
It weighs practically nothing except for the weight of the joysticks and laptop. One piece unit, drops in place, no setup needed. We've used it every year and love it.

[Samwaldo]

As a small project for myself last year, I took apart the old drivers station, which was large, bulky and ugly.

I planed the whole piece of wood, to bring life back to it, get rid of the uneven surface and paint, and even lighten it quite a bit. I then cut it down a bit and gave it nice edges all around, lastly repainted it. We use 2 joysticks, 1 Xbox controller, and the classmate, so i cut the board just big enough for the joy sticks and laptop.

I then laser cut a platform to raise the joysticks up so that the Xbox controller could be stored underneath the joysticks. (platform could be cut by other methods). Then using andymark Churros, as a spacer to lift the platform, (The exact ones from the KOP Drive train) they were tapped to be able to screw into the board and then platform.

I then just used Velcro for the laptop, and screwed the joysticks in. Underneath the platform was the Xbox controller that was pulled out and put to the side before a match. Overall it was very easy to make and was much lighter, and easier to carry. We added small touches like a rectangular piece of balsa with our team name and number burnt in using the laser cutter, which amazed people.

Overall keep it light, small enough to easily hold, and make it look nice and represent your team.

Edit: Before NE District Champs i created a 3d Printed pedal that acted like a button. We also stored this under the joystick platform and put it on the ground before a match.

[Oblarg]

We use a laptop and a pair of gamepads. No big bulky board, no hassle. I highly recommend it.

[g_sawchuk]

Our team uses a minimalist board, with our components velcro'd on. I would highly recommend some kind of board to keep everything together. Otherwise, stuff can get lost at competitions or stuff falls off the driver station and panic ensues. At Robot Rumble, I remember that one team had made a really nice one, with flashing LEDs and everything. It was pretty awesome.

[ttldomination]

I think the past, I've always had a significant draw towards fancy drivers stations. The lights, the sturdiness, the professionalism.

However, for the past couple of years, we've used a small laptop with two xbox controllers. While I think it would be cool to have a station, our coach just stacks the controllers on the laptop and is on his merry way.

We don't have a fancy rig. We don't have fancy lights. It's just super easy for us to carry around.

If I could change anything, I would perhaps find a way to stick it into a backpack to make it even easier to carry and contain, but that presents issues on its own.

- Sunny G.

[Sparkyshires]

Our team has been using a fold up box for the past four three years. Very sturdy, and always gets a look of shock from our alliance mates when we open it up It's so satisfying to walk up to the ds, set a box down, undo a couple latches and you're all set. I'll upload a picture this afternoon.

[audietron]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=130859

Here is our driver's station that we made for the upcoming season. It worked very well at Cowtown Throwdown and was really robust and convenient. Our height disadvantaged human player was able to hold it just fine and set it up.

[Tom Line]

Hard laptop case with two logitech game pads.

[Whippet]

We use a Classmate sandwiched between two Logitech joysticks and secured with velcro straps.

[Greg McKaskle]

It is a little out there, but I haven't seen a team use one of these ... yet.

It would be pretty easy to modify it to include a couple gamepads, either nested on the side or velcro'd on.

I'm also a pretty big fan of going to the HW shop and looking at tool bags, like for carpentry, plumbing, etc. I'm currently carrying around a small Husky with a power strip, a DLink, a roboRIO, I think five cameras, two gamepads, a USB hub, extra cables and some "tools" too. It has internal straps and pouches and some external pouches as well. It is very sturdy and somewhat padded. It it the replacement for the modified gym bag that was falling apart. I am able to leave everything in the bag, just plug in the power strip, plug USB into my laptop, and I have a "robot".

Keep it small, light, and try not to drop the stuff that you need to work in the next match.

Greg McKaskle

[JByland]

Thanks a bunch guys!

[Grey Mann]

Recently my team began redesigning our driver station to be smaller, lighter, able to switch between and Xbox controller and two joysticks quickly and easily as well as being able to be shared between our two main drivers, one of whom is 6' 4" and the other of whom is about 4' 2". Not sure what the end result is/was, but it seems to work quite well. I let you know how it does in competition after BunnyBot this December.

[rebelreyek]

As an off-season project, our team re-designed our driver's station for the same reasons as you. We decided on having a modular station in order to accommodate for different components: laptops, joysticks, xbox (or similar) controllers, or an IO board. Each component would have a separate section (with a standard width) that could latch on to the "main" section (which, for us, was the laptop). This then gives us the ability to mix and match, depending on the needs of our drivers.

Another perk is that by doing this, we decreased the size of ours from 44"~ to 37"~ (and more can come off, depending on how we decide to drive the robot this upcoming season). The weight also decreased, which was just because we changed materials. Also how people are going to carry it is so incredibly important. We're thinking of using an old and modified guitar strap, as well as backup handles (instead of an old ratcheting strap - that was painful ).

[pyroslev]

Ours is a simple tray of Lexan with extruded aluminum frame. Easy to redesign. Simple to build. Modest enough to be hefted by even the smallest of students. Simplicity is always best