I’ve seen enough from swerve now where I think we need to try it. I know a debate has raged on about it but I don’t think the next game will have been developed in time to counter it, and I’m worried we are going to miss the bus!
With part shortages it’s going to be tough, but is there a currently recommended swerve module? I know the mk4s seem to be popular.
Also, lack of falcon availability is also a problem!
mk4i’s, but order them three months ago.
Also falcons, but order them a year ago.
Slightly /s - Honestly that is the best combo and the one that most folks have experience with. Everyone’s gonna be experimenting with new things this year due to these shortages.
If we didn’t already have our modules and and year of experience, I think I’d be avoiding swerve for 2023. It’s become an advantage as the highest levels of play, but events can still be won by an effective robot on KOP chassis. (See 7457 and 3940 in Indiana). Maybe run something like an upgraded KOP chassis if you want something fancy (I like the 8WD personally).
That said, if you want to run something in season, the Mk4is with Falcons are probably the standard, but probably won’t happen before January.
I think Neos are a great substitute, and don’t offer too many downsides on swerve. Technically they are out of stock too, so these may or may not be an option for season, although Rev seemed to fair better with keeping stock on Neos than Vex/CTRE did with falcons (in 2022).
SwerveX looks to be pretty strong. I don’t think you would go wrong with their modules and they have a lot more configurations than SDS. Still, they seem backordered, so you may have to do your research for lead times.
If you want something to mess around with in your shop to learn code and drive around, I think there is some merit to the Andymark Swerve and steer. You can run it with CIMs and other brushed motors and even avoid the absolute encoder if you just want to mess around in your shop. Not sure I’d run one in the 2023 real season though.
MK4i is probably the best module rn, but if you ordered it right now you probably wouldn’t get it until kickoff.
Interesting! Thanks for the feedback!
Probably going to be tough to get them on a drive system for the 2023 season. Selfishly I’m hoping for a game that won’t be great for swerve…
I’d also recommend that you have the rev PDH in addition to new swerve. You’ll find it to be a great boon. In the same vein, a canivore will also be very helpful if you go all falcons.
We did plan ahead and lay in MK4 modules over the summer. But Falcons are not an option for us. The video instructions for MK4 assembly are Falcon specific and the print recipe for Neos (and perhaps CIM output Versaplans for rotation) are vague. I’m letting the team have creative frustration for a while, but somebody out there must be sitting atop a snowy mountain peak of knowledge waiting to impart wisdom to those on the Upward Climb…
Wcp is also good
Swerve can be a resource hog and these suggestions may be essentially requirements depending on the rest of the robot. If using software PIDs, profiling, path planning, etc. a roboRIO 2.0 will be useful. We managed to sneak in somewhat sophisticated vision, too, but got quite a few loop overruns and decided to go with a vision co-processor to give the roboRIO 2.0 some headroom.
If other USB devices will be used with the CANivore, prove they work together early on. Some USB devices don’t play nicely together and we won’t know if that situation will be improved or not until the new software is released.
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