Welcome to 6381, Red Raider Robotic’s, Chief Delphi thread! We are a team based out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin founded in 2017. This year we are looking to join Open Alliance and have many posts a meeting. Please feel free to comment if you have any advice about running a page!!
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Some things you can expect from us this season!! Posts will come mainly from @RedRaider6381 with the possibilities of some posts coming from team members. We hope to have posts every week, if not every meeting (during the season we meet Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays). You can expect a short recap of what each project team accomplished that meeting along with pictures of brainstorms, prototypes, etc. As this is our first year posting on Chief Delphi, with the hopes of joining Open Alliance, lots of things can change depending on how the year goes. Please let us know any tips other teams have for running a successful page!
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Team Structure:
Red Raider Robotics has two team structures. We use “sub teams” and “project groups” in addition to captains, coaches, and mentors.
Subteams are larger and used for a larger majority of the year. We have two groups of subteams: Business and Technical. The business subteams consist of our Marketing Team, Business Operations Team, and IMPACT Team. The technical subteams include Design Team, Programming Team, and Manufacturing Team. Each subteam has a team lead that is responsible for delegating tasks and overseeing the functions of their team.
Project Teams are used mainly in build season. Each team focuses on a specific subsystem of the robot. Teams this year include Outtake, Chassis, Climber, Indexer, Intake, and Electrical. Each project team has a project lead and is made of members from all six subteams. This provides a great platform for approaching the design process while taking into account the programmability and manufacturability of a subsystem.
Safety Team includes everyone on the team. We have one safety captain that is responsible for ensuring we practice safe methods when designing, building, programming, and marketing the robot. This is a huge undertaking but it is a monumental part of our team!
Captains lead the team. This year we have three captains. They are responsible for overseeing all team functions, leading meetings, and writing grants to maintain team funding.
Coaches are some of the most important members of the team. Without them we wouldn’t have a team! They provide expert leadership and are registered coaches through FIRST.
Mentors help students overcome any challenges the season brings. Red Raider Robotics is a student led organization but we couldn’t be as successful we are without our amazing mentors. Mentors use their expertise and leadership to guide students and leads whenever they have questions.
At the end of each season students can apply for next season’s leadership. Applications are considered by coaches and current captains.
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Week 1!!!
Week 1 of build season is complete and we are super excited for this years game. This year our weekly (or meetingly) posts will come from each of our six project teams. Business students will be working closely with their project teams to take notes, pictures, and videos. They will compile their information into a summary every meeting (while even adding their personal creative touches). Below are each teams summaries for this week!
Chassis:
Meeting 1 - 1/8/24
The Chassis Team focuses its efforts on the Chassis. Team Leader Max stated that the Chassis is not done. Manufacturing is almost completed with the building of the Swerve Modules and Programming worked on Autonomous for those modules. As seen below, Violet intently focuses on finalizing this module while Brendan stands model-like in the background. The Team hopes to finish the Chassis in the next two weeks, their design depends on the final decisions of the other teams.
By: Bryce and Nolan
Meeting 2 - 1/11/24
The Chassis Team continues to work on the Chassis. Max (Team lead) has created a possible design for this year’s chassis. As seen below, the chassis is very similar to last years and consists of 4 swerve modules. But, It is better! The two crossbars in the center are located 12 inches apart in order to provide flexibility to the robot’s design and have the ability for many different attachments. As of right now, the Chassis team struggles to find a good location for the battery since the rest of the robot’s design has not been finalized. Seen below is one possible location for this battery. The Chassis team sheds blood, sweat and tears over their design and will hopefully be finished with the Chassis by the end of next week!!
Climber:
Meeting 3: 1/11
We started to design a climber, which uses two one-inch box tubes connected with a spring-loaded door hinge. A winch would allow for the climber to raise to the height needed and wind up to get the robot off of the ground. The system is fully 3d designed, hopefully we will start prototyping it next meeting.
Indexer:
Meeting 3, 1/11:
During today’s meeting on January 11th the Indexer team worked hard to work on putting pieces together. They focused mainly on working to attach the wheels to the shaft. Along with doing this they also helped others who are new to the team learn throughout the process. During this process they overcame many challenges along the way. In the next few meetings they will continue to piece everything together.
Intake:
Meeting 3, January 11:
During the meeting on January 11th 2024 the intake team decided to focus on the decision matrix in order to determine the type of wheel that will be used on the future model. The criteria of this chart are manufacturability, design ability, effectiveness, cost, and reliability. They showed us a demonstration of the wheels and they worked. Along with the matrix, they also worked on updating the blue alliance and on making a test plate.
Outtake
Meeting 1/8:
On the cold stormy evening of January 8, the outtake team braved the storm. They worked tirelessly through the night brainstorming and prototyping new, innovative ways to shoot the music notes. Overwhelmed by school cancelation on the 9th, this team put in overtime, staying until 8:35. How brave. Tune in to the next meeting for another essential update on the shooter team’s progress. The ending quote is from Jack Little, “it is just the beginning…”
Meeting 1/11- Today the Outtake team focused on prototyping the shooter. After completing their first prototype, they determined they could find a way to shoot the note further. After their second attempt, they found much more success. The team concluded flywheels would be the best way to launch the notes. At Saturday’s meeting, they will continue to make improvements in order to make this component of the robot as best as it can be.
This wraps up our summaries for week 1! In the future you can hopefully expect a post every meeting!! Videos of both the outtake and intake prototypes will be in the following posts.
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Week 2 Summaries!!
This week brought on lots of prototyping and discussions. At the beginning of the week there were lots of CAD models being finished, but we refocused our design process after the CAD designs became overly-complicated. We also simplified our project teams, now only having three: Intake, Outtake, Climber. Below you will find summaries from the original project teams and newer summaries from the simplified teams.
Chassis:
Meeting 5 1/15/23
The Chassis Team’s progress has come to a raging halt while they wait for the other teams to catch up. Current Status: Completed to the best of their ability! In the meantime they have been helping other teams to prevent the Robot from falling apart under their noses. They are awaiting more information in order to determine a final location for holes and the battery. Programming has been working on utilizing the April tags. They have completed a lot of testing with Limelight and have a solid plan. They were focusing on using the limelight to determine speeds to reach the correct location. Now, they are focusing on using Limelight to move the robot to a set location on the field. As programming worked one member said “I am sad”. This is probably because they just realized that speakers were not allowed on the robots. Hopefully other teams will catch up and Chassis can continue their immense work on making the world a better place.
Climber:
Meeting 5: 01/15/2024
We decided to change the designs from Thursday because we found a more efficient way for the climber to climb. After all, it saves us less weight for the climber. The new design uses
Meeting 6: 1/16/2024
Because we changed the design last meeting, we are trying to find a new material to support and yet not add too much weight - troubleshooting this today.
Indexer:
Meeting 4 and 5 (January 13 and 15):
During these meetings, the intake team designed the intake in CAD and rethought the overall robot design. They had decided on a compliant wheel intake in previous meetings and worked to CAD that idea on the 13th. They successfully finished their initial CAD design but later had to totally redesign it. After talking with leaders they have merged the intake and indexer. This is due to the fact that there would have been a 4in indexer (basically useless). The two teams will now work closely in conjunction with one another to design this part of the robot.
Meeting 6
Intake and Index have been combined because Index was an unnecessary subteam. Worked on designing a plate that sticks to the swerve module that they will attach to the robot. They also are working on trying to support this new plate.
Outtake:
Meeting 1/12
On this cold Saturday afternoon, our Red Raider Robotics team worked hard to improve our FRC robot! When interviewing Kweku, he explained in detail his plan of angels. Kweku expressed that the angel is a huge component of the outtake. “We won’t be able to score effectively if we can’t get the ring in the amp.” By the end of the day, the outtake team was able to successfully CAD the outtake design and set themselves up nicely for the next meeting on Monday!
Meeting 1/15
Today the outtake team will be using CAD to continue improving their shooter model. The focus will be on wheel placement.
Electrical:
Today the electrical Team rewired the CAN bus system using a new wiring technique. They also used the brand @playfusion.com to rewire it. Other than that on Saturday, they hope to finish the whole CAN bus system for the robot so it is all on the same system.
By: Esi, Alyssa, and Devin
Some main takeaways from this week include the simplification of teams and the return back to prototyping. In the following posts you can find prototypes from this week.
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On the 18th, the team sat down to refocus our ideas about the design of the robot. Our ideas got too complex and we needed to go back to the basics of prototyping and CADing. Below are the notes from our breakout meeting.
Critiques
- Old design is centralized around lift
- Shooter didn’t have good mechanical advantage on rotation joint
- Over-the bumper intake geometry was too complex
- Design had too many complexities in each individual subsystem - how can it be conceptually redesigned
- How to use prototypes to guarantee what works and what doesn’t work
- Goal shifted from a fluent CAD design into having working little parts that work and later
Shooter
- Need to shoot from above for amp
- Using bar to keep note in amp - idea from Ri3D cranberry
- Possible to shoot in trap at right angle - same angle to shoot into amp
- Horizontal vs Vertical shooter
Intake
- Under the bumper intake
- More compact
- Hard to design with swerve modules - 14.9 inches between wheels
- Add intake in front of swerve modules (wheels no longer at corner)
- One spinning wheel or two spinning wheels
- Becomes rectangular chassis instead of square
- Harder to drive
- Bumpers at different heights - more room for intake
- Through the bumper intake
- Over the bumper intake
- Moving parts
- Takes longer in a 6 note auto
- Less space for indexer
Extra info
- Sight lines between human player station and one driver station is blocked
- Program needs to work on vision softwares
- Keep robot as light as possible - currently ~ 57lbs
- 24x24 chassis
- Everything needs to be prototyped thus far
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Check out some of our prototypes regarding to different subsystems of our robot!
Outake
Shooting into the Trap
Outtake Prototype
Under-Bumper Intake
Controlled Intake
Shooting into the Amp
Outtake Demo
Shooting into the Trap
Shooting into the Trap
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What’s your shooter angle and wheel speed here? This looks pretty promising! We’re trying to figure out if we need a separate amp deflector, but maybe we can shoot into it too!
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The wheels were running around 25% speed at a 60 degree angle. Hopefully it works out for you too!
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Week 3 summaries!!
This week included lots and lots of CADing. Our robot CAD is almost finished and we can’t wait to start manufacturing. Below you can find the main accomplishments of each team!
Chassis Team
Chassis Team has moved on. On this sad day, we learned that the Chassis team has basically run out of things to do. They moved the battery last meeting to the other side of the robot in order to make room for the indexer and the intake. Other than that we have been told by the team lead that they have done “Nothing” else. They have now started helping with the CAD process in other subteams. Will we ever see a day where our beloved chassis team unites again. Hopefully, for the better of the world, it will be soon.
Electrical Team
The Electrical Team has been working very hard continuing the robot. One Electrical team member stated we are doing “boring stuff”. Here is a list of some of the “boring stuff” they have done: Attaching Motors, Attaching Spark Max, Attaching Wires (Easily), Attaching Anderson connectors, Attaching Labels. Obviously, they have been extremely busy with “boring stuff”. Even though this sounds so simple (and boring) they have run into a singular problem. They could not figure out how to wire one of the sensors. They could not find the well needed crimper so they had to get creative. Using the creativity they have gained from this year’s design challenge (Crescendo) they found a solution. They cut the wire and wagoed it together. This team’s immense work has also led them into making wood bumpers. Well, Manufacturing Team member Aliana claimed that she created half of them. Overall, electrical teams work has been non-stop, working to make sure the robot is up to the rest of the team’s standards. Without them, we would be lost.
Climber Team
The climber team has almost completed the climber. They still have a few adjustments to make but should be done soon. They started with an Andy Mart climber and made many improvements and adjustments. The team took inspiration from other teams for the hook that will attach to the chain. They wanted a design that would not slide on the on the chain so another robot could fit next to ours on the chain. One problem they have faced is where to place the climber on the robot. Our robot design this year is compact so they struggled to find a place for it on the robot.
Intake Team
Intake team has finished prototypes (see above) and decided on an under-bumper intake as it is more efficient for picking up notes and being more protected. This design features 3 rollers with differing wheels on each one. The design is encased by CNC’d plates with a curved piece of poly carb over top. A CAD model will be posted soon.
Outtake Team
Outtake team has been busy prototyping and CADing this week. They have worked through multiple prototypes and decided on top and bottom wheels. Videos of the prototypes can be seen above and a CAD model will be posted soon.
This week was filled with lots of CADing and the start of manufacturing. We can’t wait till next week when our robot is fully CADed and manufacturing can take on full force.
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Week 4 summaries (and a look into week 5)!!!
All teams have dove into sheet sets and manufacturing! Below you can find brief summaries as well as renders, pictures, and CAD models. Later, we will deep dive into each subsystem.
Intake
Renders:
This week design recapped their process over the season as they looked towards the next couple weeks and finishing up the robot. They have decide on doing on under-the-bumper intake and have finished the CAD. They are currently working on finishing up sheet sets so manufacturing can start putting the robot together.
Indexer
Render:
Last week, work was done on the sheet sets which are almost done and will most likely be done today. They also worked on organizing parts for manufacturing. Today, they continued this process, and a few parts are ready to go on to manufacturing.
Climber
CAD Model: Onshape
Renders:
We are using a Andy Mark kit climber with modifications so it is fit for our robot.
Outtake
Renders:
As the sun sets and the rest of the world goes to rest, the Red Raider Robotics team is just waking up. They strive to make the most innovative and effective outtake the FIRST has ever seen! During today’s meeting, the team plans on moving ahead in their journey and bringing their plans to life! Sheet sets will be printed, parts will be manufactured, and tests will be done! Clint (the outtake is named after the well-known avenger “Arrow,” Clint Barton.) Clint is a very elaborate mechanism that uses vertical motorized wheels to shoot the notes into each element. “Based on observations the notes are able to shoot faster and more accurately when the wheels are vertical” adds Kweku.
Stay tuned to see the full CAD Model and an in-depth look into each subsystem.
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Week 6 and 7 recaps!
Intake
Intake originally had a problem with having too much friction between the note and the polycarbonate panel. A film was added to reduce friction and resolve this problem. Another challenge included Neo-motor not being able to use direct drive. There too much torque within the mechanism and a gearbox was added. This allowed us to again intake notes smoothly.
Outtake
Outtake team was the first subsystem to be complete. After testing they ran into no problems. Their main task after completing the physical system was coding the mechanism. The team worked on “auto-aim” using on AprilTags. After many long hours programmers were able to include this function on the drive team controllers.
Indexer
As students assisted other teams, they ran into last minute needs for 3d parts before competition. Indexer’s successes were completing sheet sets and BOM.
Climber
This team was struggling to figure out where to mount the programming cameras on the robot. It was difficult mounting due to specific angles and having to communicate with the programming team with what they intended for each sensor. The team also ran into problems with notes getting stuck around the hooks. If this were to happen our robot would be “useless” as we can only contain one note at a time. To fix this issue, horizontal polycarbonate panels were added to significantly decrease the possibility of a note getting stuck.
Electrical
Electrical team has been busy because the robot is done. In the last 2 weeks, the wiring for the robot has been fully completed!! As they move forward they want to continue working on cleaning up the wires and making the robot look cleaner in general. Electrical team also wants to finish shrouding the wires. One challenge they have faced includes the sheer compactness of the robot we have. With such a compact area, the electrical team struggled to fit the wires in the required area and also make it look clean and organized, as to pass inspection. This wiring was complete in a safe and effective manner in which there shouldn’t be any future problems.