WEEK 3 RECAP: GREAT PROGRESS, REDESIGN AND SAD NEWS
Let’s begin with the unfortunate news. Regrettably, we’ve had to cancel our participation for the New York Tech Valley Regional. This decision wasn’t due to a lack of determination or funds. Rather, it was the result of encountering more administrative hurdles than we initially anticipated, along with policies on international travel imposed by our Ministry of Education of which we were unaware. Coupled with a teacher’s strike that lasted from November until the Kickoff, we found ourselves unable to rectify the situation in time. Our message to Quebec-based teams in public schools is to ensure early communication with your administration, understanding every policy and administrative requirement to avoid encountering the challenges we faced. Nonetheless, we’ve certainly gained valuable lessons from this experience.
As hard-hitting as this announcement may be for our team, I feel our determination to excel has only intensified. With just one remaining opportunity to vie for awards and potentially qualify for Worlds, it’s as if everyone comprehends what needs to be done. As we highlight in our Impact Award submission, this embodies the warrior spirit that defines our team through every hardship we encounter. I can proudly say that I’m honored to be part of a team with such unwavering drive and inspiring attitude.
INTAKE AND SHOOTER REDESIGN
We initially planned to integrate an over-the-bumper intake with our shooter arm. However, even before commencing fabrication, we recognized numerous flaws in the design that increasingly concerned us. The primary issue was that the arm had to begin nearly upright to conform to the starting configuration and likely needed to remain in this position for much of the match to minimize the risk of damaging the intake or incurring penalties by entering other robots’ frame perimeters. Here’s how it would have appeared.
So, we went back to the drawing board to address those issues, and our solution was to separate our intake and our shooter. We now have an under-the-bumper intake and a separate shooter mounted on the arm. Consequently, our frame perimeter increased from 26’‘x26’’ to 26’‘x33’'.
The process of shooting into the SPEAKER and the AMP remains largely the same, but we now boast a significantly larger intake that is also securely housed within the bumpers. With our new setup, we can ensure that we always remain within our frame perimeter during gameplay, except when we elevate the arm to score in the AMP. The enhanced low center of gravity is particularly advantageous for traversing long distances between the scoring area and the human player chute, offering improved control and speed confidence. We’re truly fond of this new design. Although we’re still missing some hardware in CAD, the geometry of the plates should function effectively. We plan to finalize the CAD and commence fabrication of the plates this week.
GREAT PROGRESS WITH ARM AND PROGRAMMING
Progress on the intake and shooter fronts was limited this week, except for CAD. However, we proceeded with assembling our arm to the frame and rewiring everything to facilitate programming. Since we completed our frame last week, we encountered no issues moving forward. Our arm features 2 Falcon 500 motors on a MAXplanetary gearbox with a 125:1 gear ratio. It’s driven by a chain on 15T #35 sprockets on the gearbox shafts and 48T #35 sprockets bolted on the arm, resulting in a total reduction of 400:1 for both motors. Needless to say, the arm is exceptionally robust and, thanks to a well-designed structure, remarkably stable. Aside from the typical chain backlash, there’s no noticeable play anywhere on the arm.
We also promptly proceeded to configure our swerve drive and attempted to make Pathplanner function. Although I don’t have all the specifics, we had to adjust our rotation speed in the configuration to a higher value than the translation speed. Additionally, we programmed our arm position control using Motion Magic and tested its integration into an autonomous routine. With more exciting programming tasks ahead, I believe we’re on track for a comprehensive programming update very soon!
WHAT TO EXPECT FOR WEEK 4
We’ve initiated driver training sessions with around three students, aiming to select our official driver by Friday and intensify training drills thereafter. Our weekend meetings, scheduled to start at 10 am, have seen us arriving at 9 am, and sometimes even earlier, to accommodate driver practice. This practice not only enhances our driving skills but also fosters punctuality for meetings.
The primary focus will be validating and possibly finalizing our CAD designs, along with fabricating our intake and shooter plates. These will be produced on our CNC machine using 1/4’’ lexan. This week, we’ve set up our CNC, installed a new enclosure, and begun learning MasterCAM with the guidance of a mechanical mentor to ensure readiness for operation this week.
In addition, we’re aiming to incorporate Apriltag detection for auto-alignment this week, if time permits. If we successfully complete these tasks and assemble our intake by the end of week 4, only the assembly and testing of our shooter will remain for week 5. This timeline optimizes our schedule, allowing ample time to integrate all programming features and, most importantly, conduct sufficient driver practice and address any issues that may arise with the robot.
That’s about it for this update.
À bientôt!
Martin SV