Singapore American School FRC Team 4817 is the first FRC team in Singapore, and while this season has posed some interesting difficulties (There’s no such thing as Home Depot in Singapore) we are proud to present the Orchid One, a robot, that, while a bit rough around the edges, represents 5 weeks (Our KOP was late) of hard work, creativity, and lots of learning.
I apologize for the poor picture staging. Other angles are available if requested.
Specs
Height: 54"
Weight: 77 lbs
Hopper
4-disc capacity bucket hopper
Elevator lift driven by window motor
Ejector driven by window motor
Two levels to output at low and medium feeder heights
Accepts discs at medium level
Drivetrain
Standard 2-CIM Narrowbody configuration
KOP HiGrip Wheels
For our design, we saw the effort it would take to build a dependable climber or shooter, and were cognizant of the fact that were we to try to do either of those, we would likely lack the infrastructure and expertise to do them well. In addition, we had no ability to build the field elements that those objectives would require (the kit of parts’ meager selection, and the fact that FIRST choice shipping is a heck of a lot of money to Singapore, didn’t help) and would not be able to test. So, we went with a design that did not attempt to be a protagonist, but rather a supporting role. Orchid One can act as a helper to a shooter without a pickup, and so can effectively expand the capacity of a robot to 8 discs rather than four. The two feeding positions mean that we can be flexible, and accommodate the needs of our alliance partners. We can also act as a feeder to teams that want to climb the tower and dump but don’t want to take time going to get discs from the feeder station, or are unable to.
Note: This picture was taken as we readied it for shipping; thus, the cables are slack and the hopper is tilted because we zip-tied it to frame points. That is also why the intake chute plates do not line up.
A question: if we were to develop something for our withholding allowance, which would be more valuable: a floor pickup or a 10-point hang? I can see us completing one or the other, but not both, unless we integrated them.
Yeah. We will be packing a few sheets of lexan into our crate when we ship. We will both shield our robot, replace our acrylic sheet chutes, and put in some frisbee deflectors.
As for the hang, we still have The jag left, along with the PG 71. I guess we’ll see what we can whip up. The kit of parts is meager when FIRST Choice is less of an option. We managed to get a few parts ferried to us through some coworkers of parents, but not much. The KOP only came with 2 victors, one jag, and 2 spikes. We didn’t have enough motor controllers so our window motors are driven by spikes. It has been a trying season.
I know it may be a little to late but did you use your IFI PDV to get more jags or victors. You can get up to 2 extra Victors or Jags. if you need details you can pm me.
We did, but we didn’t have enough money to ship direct, so we mailed them to a team in the states. However, they did not get them in time to get them to a person coming over for work, and so we do not have them. We are working on getting them soonish.
Another thing you could easily do is cover one or both of the sides of your robot with disk deflecting body panels. Right now, if you were to block a fast shot it looks like it could potentially mess up your robot. My team uses polycarbonate as body panels but mostly anything will do. As a bonus it provides a place where you can put your team name, school, or sponsors for all to see.
I would also go with the ten point hang, simply because I think it would be very difficult, almost impossible to create a functioning retrieval system without being able to actually work on your robot. a ten point hang can be done VERY easily.
Here’s the simplest design I’ve seen so far, that will be easy to build, and very consistent if it’s strong:
I’d go with the ten point hang as well, simply because it is easier to build without actually having your robot to build on. Here is an easy design to build:
It depends. Can you dump in the 1 point goal with your design? If so then I would advise building a pickup. If not then I would say build a hanging mechanism.
EDIT: When I consider your somewhat limited resources and time I would probably have to lean towards the passive hanging mechanism.
Wow I can’t imagine what it would be like to work without being able to order any parts I want and have them shipped to me for almost nothing within the end of the work… Big props to you guys!
Firstly definitely build the hanger, the passive hang is pretty easy to do and 10pts will make a different.
As a future suggestion, maybe you guys can source some local motor controllers, to test with and then when you fly in for comp switch them out for FRC legal ones when you get to your comp. But I guess you can load up on goodies for next year when you are state side for regional.
Just wondering how hard is it to get materials in Singapore? I have spent a good chuck of time in China and was able to get almost anything I wanted from the street vendors/flea markets in terms of metal/wood/motors/electronics (abit not FRC legal ones).
