Today (although it was an early morning, meeting started around 8:00 AM) was where we've been trying to get to this week, have a prototype robot that can do the basic playing of the game. We are now well into the Preliminary Design Phase for the robot as a whole, as we have now begun the prototyping of the robot as a whole, and are far past the Conceptual Design Process, since we are no longer making the concepts of what the robot may look like and do.
Shooter
Today we finally mounted the shooter to the drive base frame on top of the drive base. The catapult today was not shooting terribly far, only shooting around 8' and at most 5' high. This is was without using a latch, meaning the pistons weren't already filled/pressurized, so the shooter team began making a basic latch for the shooter. As teams 842 and 1726 have already built this type of shooter, one with two cylinders, one with one, and both work in terms of distance and height, we know we can improve it with the latch, and it is only a matter of how much time and what the limit is for the cylinders.
By the end of the day, we were able to use a normal gate latch, attaching the part that locks and unlocks on the drive base frame, and the rest of the latch on the catapult. To make the latch return (automatically close again), we put a piece of surgical tubing through the hole where the lock goes, which causes the latch to spring back after being pulled back/opened.
Intake
Today we tested the intake as well as the pneumatic shooter, and found an interesting problem with part of the concept. While it took under a second for the robot to pick up the ball when the ball was within the sides of the intake, the ball would get caught and not be picked up, and would just be continually pushed into the tube structure of the intake. After this problem, we decided it was the coarse plastic that was a part of the problem, and not letting the ball slide toward the middle of the intake, so we spent most of the day figuring a possible solution for the problem and applying this solution, but did not get enough time to test it all.
Drive Base
The drive base was worked on a little today, as the shooter and latch had to be mounted today, but everything on the drive base is pretty much set to go, until the new drive base is delivered, as we are just using a kit of parts drive base. As the part of the intake that picks up the ball will be smaller than previously thought, we finally decided to have a robot with a wide drive base rather than a square drive base.
Approximate times of working: 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Friday, February 14, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
1/17/2014 Day 13: Final Completion of the Prototypes
Today was a continuation of the high levels of productivity among the team, and the finishing of many things, meaning a potentially fully functioning robot by Saturday. This is nearly 5 weeks ahead of where we were in 2012, and a little under 4 weeks ahead of where we were in 2013.
Shooter
Today we finally finished the shooter!!! All that was left to do was attach the large pneumatic cylinders, but it felt great finally having it. After watching videos from other teams, the pneumatic cylinders has reasonably high expectations, and, as it is flat, makes everything else easier. The shooter is pictured below.
Intake
As the intake was finished yesterday, the intake team spent today mounting both the intake and the pistons actuating it. By dinner time, the intake and pistons were mounted, and in the perfect spots. As a "for grins and giggles", we decided this year to put 7" diameter googly eyes on the top of our intake, so the below picture has our prototype eyes mounted (taped) on our intake system, all attached to the frame on the drive base.
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The grey stuff spiraling around the ABS tubing is the coarse paper, and, after rolling the ball in by hand rather than by motor, everything seem like it will work well, and the geometry is good for now.
Drive Base
Today the shooter team worked on the drive base. After designing the extra mount, the team laser cut the needed gussets and went ahead and attached the bar with screws, and began marking the base for attaching the backstop and where to mount the catapult. Everything mounted onto the drive base should be finished and mounted by early tomorrow.
Approximate times of work: 3:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Shooter
Today we finally finished the shooter!!! All that was left to do was attach the large pneumatic cylinders, but it felt great finally having it. After watching videos from other teams, the pneumatic cylinders has reasonably high expectations, and, as it is flat, makes everything else easier. The shooter is pictured below.
Since it did not take too long for the pistons to be attached (total of 6 nuts and bolts), the shooter team worked on the mount for the shooter and the track/backstop for the shooter. Also, since the shooter is 23" long, the team had to mount an extra wood bar to the frame to entirely support the shooter, so the bar was mounted, and the back designed and made, but not yet attached.
Intake
As the intake was finished yesterday, the intake team spent today mounting both the intake and the pistons actuating it. By dinner time, the intake and pistons were mounted, and in the perfect spots. As a "for grins and giggles", we decided this year to put 7" diameter googly eyes on the top of our intake, so the below picture has our prototype eyes mounted (taped) on our intake system, all attached to the frame on the drive base.
The grey stuff spiraling around the ABS tubing is the coarse paper, and, after rolling the ball in by hand rather than by motor, everything seem like it will work well, and the geometry is good for now.
Drive Base
Today the shooter team worked on the drive base. After designing the extra mount, the team laser cut the needed gussets and went ahead and attached the bar with screws, and began marking the base for attaching the backstop and where to mount the catapult. Everything mounted onto the drive base should be finished and mounted by early tomorrow.
Approximate times of work: 3:30 PM - 7:30 PM
1/16/2014 Day 12: Finishing subsystems
Today, the subsystem structures were finished being built, and the meeting was a little shorter due to a Xerocraft meeting.
Shooter
Today was the completion of the riveting of the shooter. All that was left was putting bolts through the gussets to hold the two pieces and two pistons together.
Intake
Today the intake team completed the intake. After installing the ABS tube for the roller, the team glued on the coarse plastic paper to help the intake roller get a grip on the ball. Also, the team was able to successfully mount the motor that drives the roller easily, so the intake subsystem was finished for now, and just needs to be mounted to the frame tomorrow.
Drivetrain
As everything was finishing up, talk about what the size of the drive base should be began. As of now, decisions are between making a wide base (23"x32") or a square base (28"x28"), and the narrow base (32"x 23") has been eliminated based on requirements. In terms of holding the ball, the wide or square bases would be okay, and the ball would be wider than the robot if the bot were narrow, making it practically impossible to pick up with a roller intake. The main trade-offs were that the wide base has a huge intake, meaning drivers don't have to be as precise, but is harder to drive, while the square base is easier to drive with, but has a smaller intake, meaning drivers have to be more precise when driving. As picking up game pieces is what takes the most time, we were leaning toward a wide base, and, although it's harder to drive and maneuver with, the intake size compensates for that, and there will be plenty of practice time after build season ends.
Catcher
As the general catcher concepts are finished, and actually making it heavily relies on the rest of the robot, we have stopped practically all catcher action for now and split to help with the other subsystems and awards, so today the catcher was not worked on, and most likely won't be continued until everything else is done.
Shooter
Today was the completion of the riveting of the shooter. All that was left was putting bolts through the gussets to hold the two pieces and two pistons together.
Intake
Today the intake team completed the intake. After installing the ABS tube for the roller, the team glued on the coarse plastic paper to help the intake roller get a grip on the ball. Also, the team was able to successfully mount the motor that drives the roller easily, so the intake subsystem was finished for now, and just needs to be mounted to the frame tomorrow.
Drivetrain
As everything was finishing up, talk about what the size of the drive base should be began. As of now, decisions are between making a wide base (23"x32") or a square base (28"x28"), and the narrow base (32"x 23") has been eliminated based on requirements. In terms of holding the ball, the wide or square bases would be okay, and the ball would be wider than the robot if the bot were narrow, making it practically impossible to pick up with a roller intake. The main trade-offs were that the wide base has a huge intake, meaning drivers don't have to be as precise, but is harder to drive, while the square base is easier to drive with, but has a smaller intake, meaning drivers have to be more precise when driving. As picking up game pieces is what takes the most time, we were leaning toward a wide base, and, although it's harder to drive and maneuver with, the intake size compensates for that, and there will be plenty of practice time after build season ends.
Catcher
As the general catcher concepts are finished, and actually making it heavily relies on the rest of the robot, we have stopped practically all catcher action for now and split to help with the other subsystems and awards, so today the catcher was not worked on, and most likely won't be continued until everything else is done.
1/15/2014 Day 11: Beginning to Finish Next Prototypes for Prototype Robot
Today's building and designing was started a little late due to visiting TFS, Technicians For Sustainability, one of our sponsors. Although we had somewhat less time, a lot got done today within our subgroups.
Shooter
Today was a day of filing, center-punching, and hole drilling for the shooter team. As the stencils were already cut out for the four different shapes of gussets (and 8 of each shape), we went ahead and straightened the unmarked gussets, stacked them and made a "little package" out of them, put the stencil on top, and center-punched the top plate to prepare for match drilling (having several pieces stacked, and drilling through each to get them nearly identical to each other). As we were beginning to do this, one of the mentors suggested only match drilling two at a time. While this was more precise and took away any risk of the bottom gusset slipping too far, this took a lot more time. By the end of the day, we were able to finish drilling each of the gussets out (a few shown below), and began punching and drilling holes on the tubing to attach the gussets. This should be done by either tomorrow or Friday.
Intake
While the shooter team was taking a bit of a while on the gusset plates,the intake subteam continued work on the intake system, getting it all riveted together and adding the holes for the roller. Other than general fabrication, not much happened for the intake team, as all of the parts were already cut, but the team began figuring out where the pistons for actuating the intake need to go, and the general geometry for reaching out just under the 20" allowance.
Drivetrain
Today was a big day for the drive train, as we could now take out the basic 2 CIM motor (the strongest motor allowed by FRC, maxes out somewhere between 5,500 RPM and 6,000 RPM) gearboxes, and build/replace it with the two 3 CIM motor single-speed gearboxes, adding much more power and speed without having to deal with a two-speed gearbox. The assembly of these new gearboxes happened today (pictured below is the new gearbox nearly completed).
Catcher
Today the catcher subteam did not work much on the catcher, but dispersed and helped the other subteams, mostly helped the shooter subteam file gussets and center-punch them, and helped with putting the gearboxes together.
Approximate times of working: 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Shooter
Today was a day of filing, center-punching, and hole drilling for the shooter team. As the stencils were already cut out for the four different shapes of gussets (and 8 of each shape), we went ahead and straightened the unmarked gussets, stacked them and made a "little package" out of them, put the stencil on top, and center-punched the top plate to prepare for match drilling (having several pieces stacked, and drilling through each to get them nearly identical to each other). As we were beginning to do this, one of the mentors suggested only match drilling two at a time. While this was more precise and took away any risk of the bottom gusset slipping too far, this took a lot more time. By the end of the day, we were able to finish drilling each of the gussets out (a few shown below), and began punching and drilling holes on the tubing to attach the gussets. This should be done by either tomorrow or Friday.
Intake
While the shooter team was taking a bit of a while on the gusset plates,the intake subteam continued work on the intake system, getting it all riveted together and adding the holes for the roller. Other than general fabrication, not much happened for the intake team, as all of the parts were already cut, but the team began figuring out where the pistons for actuating the intake need to go, and the general geometry for reaching out just under the 20" allowance.
Drivetrain
Today was a big day for the drive train, as we could now take out the basic 2 CIM motor (the strongest motor allowed by FRC, maxes out somewhere between 5,500 RPM and 6,000 RPM) gearboxes, and build/replace it with the two 3 CIM motor single-speed gearboxes, adding much more power and speed without having to deal with a two-speed gearbox. The assembly of these new gearboxes happened today (pictured below is the new gearbox nearly completed).
Catcher
Today the catcher subteam did not work much on the catcher, but dispersed and helped the other subteams, mostly helped the shooter subteam file gussets and center-punch them, and helped with putting the gearboxes together.
Approximate times of working: 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
1/14/2014 Day 10: Second Day Off
Today was our first break day since last Tuesday. While it definitely was a break, some time was spent looking into what other teams had thus far, and after watching, we are reasonably ahead of everyone else, as we are reaching our third concept and prototype for launchers, with the previous two concepts/prototypes being decent enough, but taking up space. Just from the available machining resources, experience, and knowledge each team members has, time has not been much of a factor, and continues not to be.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
1/13/2014 Day 9: Continued Work on Mechanisms, and Entering Prototyping
Today was our second day back into the separate subteams, all now knowing what exactly needs to be thought through, designed, and built. As most of the thinking through part was done by the end of yesterday, today was a lot of the doing part for each subsystem.
Shooter
Today was a day of making sure all of the parts fit in the drawings the right way, cutting of tubing for the pneumatic shooter, and beginning to cut gusset plates. While the actual cutting of the tubes did not take a long time, the shooter subteam double checked and made sure the sketches of the gusset plates on the tubes were correct before making the (paper) stencils and cutting out the gusset plates. The waiting and double checking is what took up most of the time for the shooter team today.
Intake
Today the intake team began building the intake by cutting out the gusset plates and the tubing. While not getting terribly far, the intake team got the parts cut out and began riveting everything together, and got most of the structure for the intake put together, as the beginnings can be seen below.
The general look of the intake will look like the (cruddy) paint sketch below, according to the concept and current design. The half rectangle with rounded corners is the "drive base", the angled piece is the support/mechanism that is actuated (partially shown above), and the circle is the ABS sewer tube roller. This is very similar to the roller intakes built by the Robot In 3 Days teams.
Drivetrain
As the drivetrain is now already built and was finished being programmed and tweaked to work early in the meeting, and the other parts haven't been finished, the drivetrain/base was mostly left alone. However, the catcher subteam did somewhat do work on the drive base, but that is primarily for the catcher and other subsystems.
Catcher
Today the catcher subteam worked on the frame, laser cutting the wooden gusset plates as soon as we got there. As we planned on using nails for the wooden frame, we got to use special right-angle tube clamps, making sure we were as precise as possible, although this was just a prototype frame. After gluing the gussets on the 2x2 wooden pieces, we went ahead and had fun with hammering in the nails, and laughed at and with each other for our inability to drive a nail straight into a piece of wood. One of our cleaner gussets is pictured below with the 2x2 wood still in the right-angle clamps.
After making the wooden frame, we began mounted it onto the drive base/chassis, using more wood plates. In addition, we drilled out two 1" holes to place the current catching device.
Approximate hours of working: 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Shooter
Today was a day of making sure all of the parts fit in the drawings the right way, cutting of tubing for the pneumatic shooter, and beginning to cut gusset plates. While the actual cutting of the tubes did not take a long time, the shooter subteam double checked and made sure the sketches of the gusset plates on the tubes were correct before making the (paper) stencils and cutting out the gusset plates. The waiting and double checking is what took up most of the time for the shooter team today.
Intake
Today the intake team began building the intake by cutting out the gusset plates and the tubing. While not getting terribly far, the intake team got the parts cut out and began riveting everything together, and got most of the structure for the intake put together, as the beginnings can be seen below.
As the drivetrain is now already built and was finished being programmed and tweaked to work early in the meeting, and the other parts haven't been finished, the drivetrain/base was mostly left alone. However, the catcher subteam did somewhat do work on the drive base, but that is primarily for the catcher and other subsystems.
Catcher
Today the catcher subteam worked on the frame, laser cutting the wooden gusset plates as soon as we got there. As we planned on using nails for the wooden frame, we got to use special right-angle tube clamps, making sure we were as precise as possible, although this was just a prototype frame. After gluing the gussets on the 2x2 wooden pieces, we went ahead and had fun with hammering in the nails, and laughed at and with each other for our inability to drive a nail straight into a piece of wood. One of our cleaner gussets is pictured below with the 2x2 wood still in the right-angle clamps.
After making the wooden frame, we began mounted it onto the drive base/chassis, using more wood plates. In addition, we drilled out two 1" holes to place the current catching device.
Approximate hours of working: 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Friday, February 7, 2014
1/12/2014 Day 8: Beginning of Week 2 and Exiting the Conceptual Design Phase
Today we were back to a full group, since the VEX Competition was finished and emergency work was taken care of the day before. Our big decision today was whether or not to go with a puncher/jaws intake and shooter assembly, or to go with the intake roller that pivots with a catapult. After reviewing the spreadsheet, the decision was inconclusive (slight majority for the independent systems, but not entirely conclusive), so the "Committee of Public Safety" (the three members, including me, and two mentors the team voted on to become the official tie breakers) voted 4-1 (split mentors, unanimous students) to go with keeping the intake roller and shooter/launcher separate. As we decided on the catapult, we split back into our original groups, so I went back to work on the catcher.
Shooter
Today a group of 4 students and 1 mentor designed the shooter, which would be a pneumatic catapult, rather than a surgical tubing catapult, due to the small amount of space a pneumatic (flat) catapult takes up (picture below), as opposed to the spring powered shooter, which would have a tower attached.
Shooter
Today a group of 4 students and 1 mentor designed the shooter, which would be a pneumatic catapult, rather than a surgical tubing catapult, due to the small amount of space a pneumatic (flat) catapult takes up (picture below), as opposed to the spring powered shooter, which would have a tower attached.
By the end of the day, drawings for all of the gusset plates and the shooter as a whole were finished, ready for manufacturing tomorrow.
Intake
Today the intake team figured out how to fold the intake system in and out, so it can start within the frame perimeter, but extend outward the 20" it needs to. The intake basically just required several pieces of square tubing, ABS sewer pipe, two pistons (one for each side), and coarse plastic/paper material. The coarse material on a plastic pipe roller has been shown to be very effective, especially with picking up somewhat compressible objects.
Drivetrain
Not a lot was done with the drivetrain today, and was mostly worked on by programmers to make it drive.
Catcher
Today was a major advancement for the catcher. As we now have a general concept of how it can be actuated, we worked on possible material to use for it. After thinking about netting for previous days, we took a slightly different approach. As we had lots of conduit, we decided to play around with that. As a bumpers discussion was going on previously, pool noodles quickly came to mind, as those are what are used for bumpers, so we slipped on a pool noodle on the conduit (shown below), and tested both conduit with pool noodles and without pool noodles.
As expected. the pool noodle worked well to dampen the impact from the ball, and much better than the conduit on its own. This meant the idea with folding out sides would work, so that method of catching was now out of the conceptual design phase and well into the preliminary design phase. The only other concept for catching was the folding out corners, which had to be prototyped a different day.
In addition to the new possible sides, the catching subteam worked on a frame that goes on top of the drive base, including the catcher. Since there is not much space on the drive base to mount things, and it is preferred to not have to deal with mechanisms being mixed into electronics, the elevated frame is necessary as something to mount the subsystems onto, as well as keep everything above the drive base. We designed the frame, with the main purposes of elevating everything and having something to mount things onto, and laser cut wooden gussets over the course of the day, as well as going out to buy parts (wood) for the frame.
Approximate times of working: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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