progress of robot design

[rcubes85]

are there any team out there that is still working like our tteam casue we still are not done with our design trully r you guys done.

[ajlapp]

i posted this thread two and a half weeks ago.......


857 robot

we're done with evrything but the touch up work and programming

[illumanat'i]

everything is designed, programming needs to be done, some minor fix ups, and the box lifter is half unconnected (should be fixed by tomorrow or thursday)

we were making design changes up to last minute last year, and probably will this year, don't worry about it, as long as you get a working base, the rest can be built (and rebuilt) at site

[Lindy]

Well, um, our robot actually moves now. That's pretty much it, actually.

To point: We still need to finish (and attach) the arms, plug in gearbox so that we can switch gears, install the pneumatics system, install the auxiliary motors which controls the arms, and more things that I can't think about at this point. I'm thinking, by the time we actually finish the thing, there wouldn't be a whole lot time after to test it.

The programming portion is pretty much complete in relation to the current state of the robot -- things such as automatic gear switching aren't implemented yet since the gear switching mechanism doesn't actually exist. I completed the autonomous system (learning, execution, and selection) yesterday, however, and it should be good to go unless the robot runs out of memory while we're "teaching" it, which would force me to write bank switching routines for storage space. But you see, I'm not sure if I would need to do that since our robot isn't done.

I truly envy all of the teams that have their robots completed or nearly so. But to those that have a while to go yet... you're not alone.

[FAKrogoth]

Well, we THINK we can get it to move. Unfortunately, we ended up being 150 lb. I don't know it that includes the electronics board or battery, so we're screwed, and it might be worse than I hope.

Thus, we are in the swiss cheese stage of robotics, where we reduce as much of the 'bot as possible into small, ubiquitous, pointy, how-did-they-get-in-my-hair metal shavings. When (if) we get it under weight, we can only hope, pray, chant, and hold our collective breath that the arms don't break.

So, is anyone else 30 lbs too heavy?

[ChrisH]

Originally posted by FAKrogoth
Well, we THINK we can get it to move. Unfortunately, we ended up being 150 lb. I don't know it that includes the electronics board or battery, so we're screwed, and it might be worse than I hope.

Thus, we are in the swiss cheese stage of robotics, where we reduce as much of the 'bot as possible into small, ubiquitous, pointy, how-did-they-get-in-my-hair metal shavings. When (if) we get it under weight, we can only hope, pray, chant, and hold our collective breath that the arms don't break.

So, is anyone else 30 lbs too heavy?

Our first year we showed up in Florida congratulating ourselves on our light weight robot, only to discover we were actually 29 lbs over. The method we used to weigh the robot at home turned out to be less than accurate.

We were able to get most of the weight out by chucking systems, but that last 1/2 lb was a killer. Ever since then we have one subteam whose whole job is tracking weight. Current estimates put us very close to the limit, so we are planning NOW for what might have to be done later to ensure we meet weight. At least our current facility has a good scale for weighing the robot.

If you are 30 lbs over, you aren't going to get down to weight with speed holes. Use those for the last 1/2 lb or so. Start thinking seriously about scraping entire systems. Also think about material substitutions that will lighten critical sub-systems. Finally remove all steel in any non-wearing application. If there is no metal to metal contact you can probably save weight by switching to aluminium.

[Ashley Weed]

We are currently going through a similar stage at the moment. We have to find ways to cut weight... hopefully with 'swissing' some of the large gears and whatnot, we will be able to considerably cut weight. If all else fails... we have an extremely fast way of losing weight - smaller tires! We have insanely large tires this year.

Hopefully by late Saturday night or Sunday, we will have a base that can move... not programmed.. but moveable.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally posted by ChrisH
Finally remove all steel in any non-wearing application. If there is no metal to metal contact you can probably save weight by switching to aluminium.

We learned that last year. We built our robot entirely out of steel. The frame and arms were made with 3/4" steel angle. It was strong as anything, but it weighed a ton. We had a very basic design and came in at 138 lbs the night before ship. We ended up scrapping a whole mechanism to do that. Steel worked very well for us, but if we had had anything more than a basic 'bot, we would have been way over. This year, we're using box aluminum tubing. It's almost 50% lighter than our steel angle.

[D. Gregory]

Weight is a high concern for our team. IF we used bosch for the entire robot we would hit 140 easy. We use Aluminum angle and square tubing for everything but the outside box frame and drivetrain.

[FAKrogoth]

Yes, if worse comes to absolutely horribly terrible, we might give up on the lower set of arms. Unfortunately for the metal subsitution things, the reason we used iron/steel in the first place is that it was cheaper. We probably won't be able to get more aluminum, so we very well might have to drop our arms.

On the plus side, I just got some good advice for getting materials: construction-site cleanup companies. For a school project, they may donate some of the scrap, and it's usually pre-sorted. Must inform former construction worker turned physics teacher.