2537 Teaser

[Traldan]

I've got some teaser photos here of our rookie robot! We're well underway and quite happy with our progress thus far.

I'll try and get a video of it driving up within a few days.

[DarkFlame145]

looks nice, I'm not a big fan of mec. wheels, but it looks like a solid drive train

[IndySam]

Very nice job. I love seeing rookies take on a drive like that. The suspension is a great touch.

Is your OI visible under those victors, and where is the breaker switch? Inspectors will want to have easy access and visibility on those.

[Traldan]

We're making a fiber-optic panel that goes from those lights to outside the case. The breaker switch is on the side under the bundle of wires (which are being cleaned up right now, in fact).

[hipsterjr]

I've never really thought about suspension on a robot, but I guess this would be a good year to try. Has anyone had any success with such a design.

....and oh, yeah. Nice job guys.

[Andy L]

I have a few little tips about things I have noticed:
1. Zip tie and label your wires, it makes bugfixing and programming a lot easier in the long run
2. RC light visibilty, not only do you need to see the lights but the words saying what each light represents, I highly recommend moving this to a different place.
3. Springs anywhere may to go astray no matter how secure they are, last year we spent a week or so making sure our failsafe on our arm worked perfectly and then we put our arm up and snapped the spring off, suspension isn't really needed/useful on these robots and I'd recommend not using suspension
4. Grease your gearboxes, from the pictures it looks pretty much too clean to have been greased properly
5. not sure if that bar on the bottom is permanent but with the suspension you might be hitting the ground with all your weight on the wheels.
6. VERY NICE electrical box I wish our robot in our 5th year had an electrical box like that

Just trying to give some constructive criticism.

Mec's + Suspension = One Sexy Robot

[s_forbes]

That suspension system is very cool, we used a similar set up on one of our mecanum drive bases and it works well. This is a very impressive drive train, especially from a rookie team! What goes on top of it?

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Andy L

I have a few little tips about things I have noticed:
1. Zip tie and label your wires, it makes bugfixing and programming a lot easier in the long run
2. RC light visibilty, not only do you need to see the lights but the words saying what each light represents, I highly recommend moving this to a different place.
3. Springs anywhere may to go astray no matter how secure they are, last year we spent a week or so making sure our failsafe on our arm worked perfectly and then we put our arm up and snapped the spring off, suspension isn't really needed/useful on these robots and I'd recommend not using suspension
4. Grease your gearboxes, from the pictures it looks pretty much too clean to have been greased properly
5. not sure if that bar on the bottom is permanent but with the suspension you might be hitting the ground with all your weight on the wheels.
6. VERY NICE electrical box I wish our robot in our 5th year had an electrical box like that

Just trying to give some constructive criticism.

Very good advice but I would disagree with number 3. Mecanum drive works much better with suspension.

[mmmlinux]

Thanks for all the comments. For people worrying about the indicator lights on the the controller, we have fiber that goes to the outside of the box with labels to show which light is which. Also, as far as I know there are no clearance problems due to the suspension.

[ALIBI]

It looks like your bumpers will attach to the frame where the frame is supported by your suspension. Is there a chance that they will be able to move more than an inch up and down? The reason I ask is:

 STANDARD BUMPERS must remain within the BUMPER ZONE when the ROBOT is resting on the floor in PLAYING CONFIGURATION. They must not be articulated or moved outside of the BUMPER ZONE

Your frame moving up and down could move the bumpers which are 5 inches wide outside the bumper zone with is only 6 inches wide. I would hate to see you put the work into a great suspension system to only see you not be able to use it. Hopefully, your travel up and down is limited and this will not be a problem. I love what you have done.

[Traldan]

We don't anticipate that being a problem - fully weighted, we shouldn't see more than an inch of travel. If it really is a problem, we'll get creative and figure something out.

[Traldan]

Video!

I just finished uploading a video from Saturday's Scrimmage at Baltimore Polytechnic.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ISE45OKt6vs

You can also find a few pictures from the event at our website (www.atholtonrobotics.com).