Design 1
Here is the initial design that we came up with. We stuck with our design philosophy of a relatively simple robot. We try to do this by limiting the number of “new” or novel systems to one. In this case, this is the elevator.
Capabilities
- L3, L2, L1
- De-algefiying
- Processor scoring
Design
Crayoncad
We try to start all of our designs with a crayon CAD to show how parts of the robot will fit together. This process also helps us rule out approaches. The design we went for utilizes an elevator, a funnel to score Coral, and an arm with rollers for holding algae. It loads coral from the loading station and deals with algae from the ground.
Onshape: Onshape
Alternative Approach
We also looked into a 4-bar arm design to make a similar motion as our elevator. However, we did not continue with this design because we had significant weight concerns, and it seemed like it added more complexity than an elevator. We typically favor arms over elevators we have had more experience in arms, but the elevator seemed worth it in this case.
Onshape: Onshape
Subsystems
Students come up with approaches to the game and develop sketches and crayon cads of these robots. We validate ideas as they appear in various RI3D robots. Systems that appear in more RI3D robots are more attractive to us.
Design 1 Onshape: Onshape
Swerve Drive
Our design features a 29" x 29" drive base because we want high stability with the elevator on our robot. We don’t see the utility in having a frame perimeter much smaller than the maximum.
We are utilizing a MAXSwerve drive system because of the availability of their code template. This has allowed even our novice programmers to set up our drive system. We have ensured that our programmers can code our swerve drive.
Elevator
Most of the RI3D teams we saw went with the elevator. This design utilizes a single-stage elevator which moves our coral-scoring mechanism. We used WCP inline bearing blocks, but we would adapt the elevator to whatever system is available (elevators are selling out quickly!).
We got the idea for this elevator from team 3512 Sparktronics’s Casino Clash Cadathon submission.
Coral Scorer
Our Coral Scorer is the most unique part of our robot. We have a hopper that accepts coral from the loading station and outtakes it out the side onto a branch. This system is mounted on the elevator. Compliant wheel rollers push the coral out the side. We liked this system because it was relatively simple, requiring only rollers to operate. With this design, we sacrifice driver loading and scoring time for mechanical simplicity.
We are concerned that this system will not work very effectively due to bounces while the robot is moving. Additionally, lining up to score will be hard for the driver. We are scared about this idea because we have not seen any other teams take this approach.
De-Algefying
Our De-algefying is similar to one shown by Cranberry Alarm We highly recommend checking out their content. The wheels on a small pivoting arm roll algae off the reef. Cranberry Alarm has shown this method is viable, so we are confident it will work.
Processor Scorer
Our approach to scoring in the processor uses a system similar to our 2014 robot Octanis with a large scoring arm. This approach has also been seen in various RI3D Robots so we feel confident in going with this system.
Postmortem
We had a cad meeting where we discussed the direction we want to take. We think the best direction we can take is to try to mimic the RustHounds RI3D robot the best we can. We think there are several improvements to their design that we can implement and modify to better fit our capabilities. With this in mind, we are stopping development on this approach of the game in favor of their design. Our designs have similar aspects, so we expect our robot to be similar.
We decided to move away from this design of our robot because of several factors.
- We are unsure of the viability of the coral intake. As mentioned before, we are concerned that this design may not work. We will likely put our coral intake on the back burner. The lack of driver visibility in this style of system may prove to be a big issue for our driver. The arm of the RustHounds’ robot will alleviate this issue.
- We think the RustHounds RI3D is an impressive and highly effective robot. We plan on putting it on a swerve drive to make it even more competitive.
- We value more driver practice time over prototyping time. We hope going with this approach will increase our driver practice and programming time, which is something we have been severely lacking for the past several years.
