Robotic arm spark max controller coding

RocketRampage · March 10, 2023, 2:05pm

Hi all! I could use some serious help! I am a second year instructor with robotics, with kiddos who know how to build, but not code. We have built a robotic arm to pick up cones and cubes. It’s almost like a grabber/pincher. We have the base code for driving which is set. The step we need assistance on is the arm. We use spark max controllers, have a snowblower motor, and three air cylinders. The big cylinder slides the arm down, the other two small cylinders pinch the arm. I am learning java and I could use some help if there is sample code out there for an arm. If you need details about the arm, please ask because I do not have my CAD kiddo in here just yet. I greatly appreciate any and all help! These kiddos have worked very hard, and I want to get them to the next step. Have a great day all!

woodworker2001 · March 10, 2023, 2:30pm

We tried to work with smart motion and have opted to go with pid controller. And just setting motor to position.

It is not perfect but working well.

github.com

mavericks2252/2023RobotCodeNew/blob/main/src/main/java/frc/robot/subsystems/TopArm.java

// Copyright (c) FIRST and other WPILib contributors.
// Open Source Software; you can modify and/or share it under the terms of
// the WPILib BSD license file in the root directory of this project.

package frc.robot.subsystems;

import com.revrobotics.CANSparkMax;
import com.revrobotics.RelativeEncoder;
import com.revrobotics.SparkMaxPIDController;
import com.revrobotics.CANSparkMax.IdleMode;
import com.revrobotics.CANSparkMax.SoftLimitDirection;
import com.revrobotics.CANSparkMaxLowLevel.MotorType;

import edu.wpi.first.wpilibj.DutyCycleEncoder;
import edu.wpi.first.wpilibj.smartdashboard.SmartDashboard;
import edu.wpi.first.wpilibj2.command.SubsystemBase;
import frc.robot.Constants.TopArmConstants;
import frc.robot.Constants.PortConstants;

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Hollisms · March 10, 2023, 2:55pm

I would recommend in vscode that you create a new example project “ArmBot”. If you play with that example and adapt it to work on your robot you can merge the subsystem and commands into your main robot code.