I’ll augment Toby’s post with a few of the why’s of our decision making process:
Why is our need, want, and no list the way it is?
General: A small, fast robot that can go anywhere on the field, including the stage. This game has some really long cycles with very few protected zones. Being able to drive across the field quickly in any of the three lanes is going to be key to success no matter what scoring action is being taken.
Drivetrain: We finished a swerve drivebase in the offseason, this game favors swerve by having a completely flat field. Not a very hard decision there. Being unaffected by notes while driving was a requirement, whether that be by driving over them or pushing them out of the way. Don’t want to get stuck on one, don’t want them getting in our swerve modules.
Intake: Ground intake reduces lineup to the Source, particularly important given that the Source is across the field from the drivers. We prioritized width over being able to get notes in the corners of the field.
Scoring: We thought that, given that the kitbot scores notes in the speaker, we should be able to score in the amp for coopertition and amplification. Scoring only in the amp doesn’t allow for a great autonomous, so speaker scoring is also on the list. The trap is the first no here, as it only provides value in consistently getting the Ensemble RP. Little value in elimination matches, high difficulty, restricts climbing to only the center. Long distance shots into the speaker are also a low priority, but they fit with everything else we’re doing. Likely a project for later in the build season.
Climber: Given that we aren’t doing the trap, harmonizing on the chain is the best way to get the Ensemble RP somewhat consistently. The simplest climb in this game is two hooks in the center of the chain, so complementing that is the key to ensuring success in harmonizing. A buddy climb would offer some advantages similar to the trap in gaining the Ensemble RP, but is just as challenging. De-climbing is unnecessary given that we aren’t scoring in the trap. The side climb that reacts off the truss (shown above) seems to be the best way to climb consistently with either a partner scoring in the trap or a partner with a center climb.
Software: Making things as easy as possible on our drivers is the general goal. Eliminating manual aim while shooting with AprilTag detection will mean faster cycles.
Why base our design off of Unqualified Quokkas?
We had a similar concept on Monday of last week when we began discussing what designs would meet our goals while reducing the number of degrees of freedom necessary to accomplish all game tasks. We then saw the RI3D design and it checked off all of our boxes. We considered handoffs similar to Cranberry Alarm, with the addition of blockers to ensure that the Note went in the Amp, but
Why the bumper extension?
We wanted to protect the intake from damage while shooting and traversing the field. Any hits to the end effector in this design could damage the arm, especially side loads. Preliminary dimensional analysis showed that it was very hard to keep the intake within the bumpers while shooting from the subwoofer. When we saw the 95 method of mounting the intake outside of the swerve chassis yet within the bumpers, we saw a potential solution. This meant bringing the swerve down to a 25x25 square to allow for the 10 inches of bumper extension we needed to fit the end effector in its lower position. This gives us the advantage of a full-width intake that’s fully protected, especially relevant for center line autos.
This does come with the disadvantage of putting some weight outside of our swerve chassis, we’re going to try to keep most of the weight between our swerve modules and maybe add some casters under the bumper extension to prevent tipping during deceleration.