RustHOUNDS Ri3D 2025

Other Robot in 3 Days (RI3D)
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Hello FRC Community!

We are excited to announce that FRC team 868, the TechHOUNDS, will be fielding an Ri3D team this year composed of our alumni, the RustHOUNDS!

Our Goals

Starting at kickoff, we will be releasing periodic updates about our team’s approach to this year’s game, as well as the development of our robot. We aim to inspire FRC teams and provide valuable documentation of our process. We don’t have much to show yet (since kickoff is still a few days away), but here is a sneak peek at the starting drivetrain!

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We would like to thank the coaches and mentors of TechHOUNDS for making this possible and lending us their space and manufacturing labs. Of course, none of this would happen without the TechHOUNDS sponsors, who can be found below on the team website.

Where To Find Us

We will be regularly sharing updates here on Chief Delphi as well as posting daily videos on the TechHOUNDS YouTube channel. Additionally, we will be streaming on YouTube for most of our shop time.

Team Website:
https://techhounds.com/

YouTube:

Instagram:

Trello (will be updated as we progress):

(https://trello.com/b/fk6LMQ34)

Code:

CAD:

Download

Tech Binder:
(link to come)

We can’t wait to tackle what the high seas of FRC 2025 have in store! We will see you on the field!

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Let’s goooooo! You love to see another Indiana Ri3D team.

Looks like you all are well prepared to hit the ground running!

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RustHOUNDS Ri3D Update 1

Being about 6 hours into Ri3D, we have been making steady progress towards design and prototyping. At about 2pm we lost access to the manufacturing lab but moved base to our practice field to continue working. We have started CADing our prototypes as well as working on autonomous paths. We have the initial workings of a path to score three CORAL on L4 of the REEF. So far, our major prototype ideas include an elevator with a chute, as well as an elevator with a placement arm. We are continuously updating the code and pictures of the CAD will be posted later this evening.

Additionally, our construction team has created an order for parts that are coming tomorrow. The plan is to build both the reef and the player station.

We have been working alongside the TechHOUNDS throughout, who are also hosting their kickoff at the school/practice field.

To see our progress throughout, tune into our livestream here!

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RustHOUNDS Ri3D Update 2

With about 11 hours since the game reveal, we have made great design progress! This was our prototyping process:

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We have decided to move forward with the arm on an elevator, with an end effector attached to the arm to place game pieces, and a hopper for intaking CORAL from the human player station (more detailed explanation and CAD coming tomorrow)

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For the ALGAE, we are looking to intake from the ground and score in the processor, using a passively deployed intake with rollers (opposite side of elevator).

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We have also found a potential way to climb on the deep CAGE that we will explore, through cantilevering off of one of its poles (more details tomorrow morning).

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For our autonomous routines, we have been figuring out how best to make lining up to the REEF consistent, given how small the margin for error is when scoring a CORAL.

Our current progress at a 3 CORAL autonomous routine:

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Currently our team is continuing to CAD, with hopes of getting into the manufacturing lab tomorrow morning and getting a good start on manufacturing. Stay tuned for further streams and updates!

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Since most people aren’t as wild as myself and have gone to bed, I figured I would post one final update on the state of the robot.

After losing access to our shop, we had to move to the practice space and prototype in theory, we had the one wood climber concept, and a few ideas. But ultimately decided to cad prototypes to get running in the morning. But took it one step further, if we verify all subsytems work, we may be looking at a somewhat final design.

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DAWN OF THE SECOND DAY - 50 HOURS REMAIN

We are back in the shop this morning with a full mechanical assembly. Our primary goals for the next few hours are:

  1. Assemble the required field areas for testing. We picked up our materials yesterday, and in the next few hours, we plan to assemble a REEF, a PROCESSOR, and a CORAL STATION.

In true Ri3D spirit, we found a REEF stand-in that we can use until the construction of the field is done!

  1. Manufacture our robot. We have split into several teams, each of which will manufacture one subsystem. In order to maximize our iteration speed, our initial prototypes are being fabricated from plywood and whatever scraps we have on hand from previous years.

Check out our youtube for the livestream, shorts, and more, see you in a few hours!

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PROTOTYPING FINISHED, MANUFACTURING BEGINS

We have made a lot of progress towards building our practice field. All parts have been cut, and assembly has begun. It should be finished well before we need it.

Now that our prototypes have been tested (check out our YouTube channel for that) we have had our final CAD review meeting, and are ready to begin manufacturing!

Our elevator subsystem team has been working overtime to bring it ahead of schedule. They have already made great progress towards assembly!

Our other two subsystems, the intake and the climber, are also underway, now that the designs have been finalized.

Check out our YouTube to see our prototypes in action! You can also find our livestream there.

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A FEW QUICK UPDATES

We’d like to thank Thriftybot for generously providing our team with some essential parts. Thriftybot makes the FRC world go round, and their support means a lot to us! We used some of their parts in the construction of our arm, which we plan to use to place CORAL on the REEF!

Speaking of the REEF, we have finished constructing the segment we will be using to test and practice with.

Our CAD Design Breakdown is now available! If you are curious about any part of our design, that’s the place to go!

Finally, we have an Instagram! We will be mirroring our short-form content from our YouTube, and interacting with other FRC and Ri3D accounts. Stop by and give us a follow!

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END OF DAY WRAP UP - DAY 2

We ended slightly earlier today than we would have liked, due to an incoming winter storm. Even so, we accomplished a lot today! Here are the highlights:

Our field is now completely assembled, and we have begun testing with it!

Our robot is also about 75% mechanically complete, leaving us Day 3 to finish up, with plenty of time to work on wiring and code.

Last but not least, be sure to check out our YouTube and Instagram to see all the prototyping we have been doing!

That’s all for now! We will be back at it tomorrow morning!

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Is that OTB intake for algae manipulation? If so, what is the thought process behind it?

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The intake is for scoring ALGAE in the PROCESSOR, yes!

It will start stowed within the robot, and tilt out passively after moving the drivetrain. We will have a string stopping it at about 60-80 degrees, at which point it will be able to store ALGAE against our robot’s bumper. Being fully compliant, we don’t foresee issues with it getting damaged by other robots. It has a set of rollers on the end driven by a NEO Vortex, which grab onto the ALGAE and provide some amount of compression. Then, we just spit the ALGAE into the processor by running the rollers backwards.

Here’s a short video of how it works! (interaction with processor coming tomorrow)

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Inclement Weather + Programming

Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, our school is closed for the day. This means that we will be unable to complete the final bit of manufacturing needed for our robot; we finished the vast majority yesterday, but we still have not cut the plate for our hopper to intake from the CORAL STATION. We have a few ideas for how we may do this with plastic or thin sheet metal – we’ll keep you posted.

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During our stream yesterday, you might have noticed us sharing simulation views from AdvantageScope (shout out 6328)! While assembly was taking place, we completed the articulated physics simulation, and started working on motion profiling and high-level sequences before the robot was completed!

Since we got everything done relatively quickly, we decided to also implement coral manipulation!

This shows the complete sequence for how we plan on intaking coral from the CORAL STATION, and locking it in place using our bistable claw.

Our most exciting update to share is our fully simulated 3 coral autonomous routine! This scores on L4 of the G, D, and C reef sectors (according to the FMS labelling).

We still need to visualize our climber (once we get updated CAD for it) and add mechanism safeties so that our arm doesn’t smack into the ground :slight_smile: Stick around for more updates from us!

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Noon of Day 3 - 24 Hours Remain

Despite circumstances out of our control, we are moving quickly toward a completed bot! Fortunately, almost all parts of our bot were completed last night and moved to our practice space before we (once again) had to work out of it. The remaining components are coming along very smoothly, even with the limited resources at our disposal.

In addition, wiring has begun for the completed parts of our assembly, focusing primarily on our elevator/arm subassembly. Since our wiring was planned out in CAD, it too is coming along smoothly.

We expect to have a complete bot late this afternoon, giving us plenty of time to program!

Be sure to check out our YouTube and Instagram for more updates! Our next post will (hopefully) include pictures of our completed assembly!

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ROBOT REVIEW

Now that we have finished assembly of our 2025 Ri3D bot, we decided it was time to release a full explanation of our design. Our robot reveal will come later, so for now here is our robot review:

Our robot is designed to perform three key game functions: Cycling CORAL from the CORAL STATION onto the REEF, moving ALGAE from the REEF to the PROCESSOR, and climbing onto the DEEP CAGE. The breakdown will go through each of these mechanisms individually, and then explain how they interface.

First, the feature we prioritized the most: Cycling CORAL. To that end, we elected to use a two-stage elevator with an attached arm. We mounted a passive bistable two-stage grabber to the end of the arm to manipulate the CORAL. With this setup, we can score CORAL on all levels of the REEF, though scoring in L1 requires a careful approach from the driver.

To move CORAL through our bot, we used a passive chute. This has the benefit of aligning it while it slides down from the CORAL STATION into a holding position to be picked up by the grabber.

Moving ALGAE from the REEF to the PROCESSOR is a slightly more complicated operation. We elected to use our elevator+arm combo to knock the ALGAE off of the REEF where it can later be retrieved by our OTB floor intake. The active wheels on it will scoop the ALGAE off of the ground and onto our bumper, where it can later be spat out into the PROCESSOR.

Finally, climbing onto the DEEP CAGE was relatively simple, design-wise. A single point of articulation allows us to apply leverage against the cage, and lift the bot off of the ground.

By far the most complicated part of this process was integrating everything within our frame perimeter. The chute was the culprit for many of these difficulties, seeing as it takes up a lot of space on our bot at an awkward angle.

I hope you enjoyed this explanation of our process! Stay tuned for our robot reveal, and feel free to ask any questions you might have!

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I just saw that deep cage climb video from you guys, really great work!

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Thanks! The support and appreciation means a ton! It’s been tough but worth every minute!

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868 MINUTES LEFT

In spite of weather conditions, we accomplished an incredible amount today! We finished assembly, wiring, and began programming and testing. As we finish out Ri3D 2025, we can’t thank all of you enough for the incredible support we’ve been receiving from all of you, especially on our YouTube channel.

We will be releasing an official robot reveal tomorrow as we put the finishing touches on our bot. Check out our Instagram as well!

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YouTube Shorts

Here is a list of all of the YouTube shorts our team has created over the last three days. See our prototypes in action (along with a successful deep climb) here!

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Congrats on the deep climb!

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