Team 2530 Offseason CAD Release

Technical
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As our offseason comes to an end with kickoff quickly approaching, we (team 2530) want to share some of our offseason projects & ideas with the FRC community here on CD. Since we got back into our shop in late August, we’ve been working on many different projects including:

  • 25x25" test swerve robot (FWERB)
  • Prototype elevator
  • New robot cart
  • Tons of bumper ideas (mounting, backing, foam, etc.)
  • Designs utilizing the plate capabilities of our new MillRight CNC
  • Many prototypes and mockups using Vortex motors that are new to us this year.

Here’s the OnShape Document that our students and mentors have been working on containing many of our ideas and prototype designs. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome!

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I love seeing people still using 80/20 on robots, have you built this prototype yet?

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Yep, we have built the frame, superstructure, and most of the elevator (we plan on finishing the elevator rigging and programming this week).

We love using 80/20! For some things, it’s a bit on the heavier side, but for the frame specifically, we really like it - it’s more than strong enough for the heavy impacts we had last season, and only about 15% heavier than 1/8" wall square tube of the same size (1x2"). With the limited manufacturing capabilities we’ve had in past years as well, being able to use the T-slots is extremely convenient as opposed to drilling all mounting holes (time consuming) or using pre-drilled tube (generally weaker).

4

It would be interesting to see what experience led to this conclusion. I haven’t ever had issues with pre-drilled box tube in terms of strength, especially if you are doing your weight budgeting well.

Here’s a relevant thread (albeit from 2019)

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More for frames specifically - I’ll admit that I’m not super well versed in the optimal usage of pre-drilled tube (we haven’t used it as a team), but I saw quite a few bent/broken frame members that were fractured along a line of holes on predrilled MAXTube or similar at worlds. I can’t find the specific images, but I’ve seen pictures of similar damage here on CD.

For mechanisms, superstructure, etc, we are looking at starting to use more box tubing as opposed to 80/20 in the coming season (see the V2 elevator prototype in that documents), our robot last season and the arm from our 2023 robot really showed us some of the limitations (especially weight) of 8020.

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