Kickoff Part 2
After our very successful kickoff yesterday, many of our team members spent their evening independently researching robot designs and looking for inspiration. Many of us independently came up with the triangle architecture, with an intake on the low end, an angled indexer, and a shooter at the top corner.
While this design was very simple, effectively being an upgraded kitbot, it didn’t have the capabilities we were looking for in our robot, so we continued working to try to add a simple way of scoring in the amp to a robot of this design. After several rounds of Krayoncad, we settled on a design that allowed the shooter to rotate downwards to drop game pieces directly into the amp.
Speaker scoring mode.
Amp Scoring mode.
After getting to this point in the design, we went to sleep.
Team meeting:
We started our team meeting by revisiting the priority list that we created yesterday. Our first point of discussion was driving under the stage, which requires having a robot less than 26” tall. The entire team agreed that, due to the impact this would have on cycle time, this was a critical feature for our robot, and belonged in Must haves. We also revisited our two points on intaking and clarified them to have intaking from the ground in must-haves, and intaking directly from the source (human player station) in could haves. With these changes made, here is our new priority list:
Must haves:
- Drive and have working bumpers
- Taxi (Move in auto)
- Parking in endgame
- Able to play defense
- Drive under the stage (height under 26”)
- Scoring in the speaker from the subwoofer
- Ground intake
- Low COG
- Fast cycles
Should haves:
- Climbing the chain
- Scoring in the amp
- Apriltags vision
- Lightweight
- Harmony (two robots on one chain)
Could haves:
- Scoring in the speaker from the podium
- Scoring in the speaker from around the stage
- Scoring in the trap
- Intaking directly from the source (human player station)
Won’t haves:
- Buddy climb
After this, we split off into small groups to brainstorm potential robot architectures. Many groups continued to work with the concepts that had been created last night, especially the triangle structure we had been considering. When we presented, every design was a fairly minor variation of this, and we eventually decided on this robot architecture:
Drivetrain:
We’ll be using MaxSwerve modules with Vortexes (and Krakens, once they ship). We are currently deciding what gear ratio to upgrade to, especially with the 5 new ratios recently released by REV.
Intake:
We have been considering two intake types, and due to both having mixed tradeoffs, we are planning on taking both of these intakes into consideration during prototyping before we decide on one this week as we transition into CAD.
Option 1: Over the bumper
A fairly standard fold-out over the bumper intake, inspired by RI3D Cranberry Alarm and their intake, this would be rotated using a NEO on a MaxPlanetary, and would likely use a mix of belts and compliant wheels.
Over the bumper intake retracted.
Over the bumper intake extended
Option #2: Under the bumper
This is a very similar concept to the Cranberry alarm intake, but instead of being OTB and needing to be retracted and extended, this would be mounted inside of our frame perimeter and would intake notes that go underneath our front bumper. This would require having fairly high bumpers, with 2.5in of clearance underneath at least the front bumper to allow notes to path through.
This design is much simpler than an OTB intake and removes a DOF. Remember, a DOF saved is a DOF earned. It also packages much better with our indexer and shooter, allowing for the shooter angle to be steeper without a more complex indexing system. However due to the nature of UTB intakes, it cannot be as wide as an OTB intake, so we would either be sacrificing that width, or we’ll need a different mechanism to potentially direct notes into this intake.
Scoring in the speaker:
Similar to the kitbot shooter, with our shooter in the resting position it will be perfectly positioned to score in the speaker while up against the subwoofer.
By adjusting the angle of our shooter, and rotating both the flywheel assembly and a section of the indexer, we can fine-tune the shooter to be able to score on the speaker from much farther distances, such as the podium.
Scoring in the amp:
Doing this while maintaining simplicity and minimum DOFs was a challenge, but we think that we’ve figured out an effective, simple way of doing this by only adding 1 DOF to our robot, and zero extra mechanisms.
By rotating our shooter around 90 degrees, it is positioned at a downward angle that is perfect for dropping notes directly into the ramp at the bottom of the amp. The exact geometry of this mechanism will require more testing, especially when we need it to retract to be under 26” tall, but based on this CAD and initial sketches we’re confident in this design.
Climber:
We will be going with 2 simple telescoping arms for our 2024 climb. We have some familiarity with these from 2022, and this is a simple solution to the climb this year. Over the next 2 weeks, we will be testing different hook designs and materials to figure out what is best for our climber.
The trap:
For now, the trap will not be our focus. As the build season progresses, we will likely re-evaluate if we want to attempt to modify our robot to be able to do this task, or if it is out of our reach for this season.
That’s all from us for kickoff weekend. Tonight we’re gauging interest from members of the team on what mechanisms they are interested in working on, and tomorrow we will begin the prototyping process. Our next major post will be this Friday, recapping what will happen this week. However, we will be posting daily media and small updates in our discord channel on the OA discord.