2022 Day 20 & 21: Intake Prototype

Intake Testing

We are working on finalizing our intake and ball path setup.

The goal of this current intake is to have limited extension over the bumper and be easily folded into the robot.
 

Video

We will likely use some type of kicker bar that deploys at the start of the match to prevent the balls from easily slipping against the bumpers and ensuring a clean intake when we touch the ball.

The ball path behind the intake is still being worked on but it seems we will be able to have a normal roller without any mecanum or omni wheels and it will work fine. Passive wedges seem to work well to get the balls to center into the ball path.

ProtoCube

We have gotten many comments on the devices we create to help us prototype. Tonight we quickly made a new one to help with climber and launcher testing to come soon.

We quickly mounted a full FRC control system into a 2018 power cube, this way we will be able to automate parts of the climber testing, and also get velocity control on the Falcon500s we are using for launcher testing.

- Spectrum

2022 Day 19: Launcher Testing

 Launcher Testing

We filmed a good amount of prototype launcher testing today on the replica Upper Hub with an agitator wheel installed (it wasn't turned on for all the testing, it's loud, and we didn't notice a difference in much of the testing off or on). We tried to film as much unedited testing as possible, so there are a lot of clips. Hopefully, this will give people an idea of how the balls interact with the goals.

Ball Pressure
In these clips, two of the balls are from kickoff, and early on, they were underinflated. The rest of the balls are brand new and were inflated today using our digital inflator. We received our official spec gauges today as well, and it seems the digital inflator reads about 1 psi lower than the official analog gauges specified in the manual. Hence, some of our balls were at 3.5psi based on the digital inflator, and some were at 3.5 psi based on the official analog gauge by the end of the testing. 

Prototype launcher configuration

• Falcon is basically 1:1 (actually 47:46 cause belt math is hard sometimes),
• 4" stealth wheel main flywheel
• 2" compliant wheels on the top roller are 1:1, so it's about half the surface speed of the main roller
• 2" compliant wheels on the accelerator wheel under the main roller, also 1:1.

More Videos can be found in our Week 3 Gallery.

2022 Day 17 & 18: Design Recap and CAD Links

 Tuesday Design Recap

CAD Release

This is our first true build season using OnShape, so we are still learning the best way to do some things but we will have our documents shared starting now. We are not very far into CADing the robot, it won't be even near completion for about 2 weeks. The prototypes document has most of the files and sketches we used for making the climber prototypes but it's very disorganized.

0. Infrared 2022 (Top Level Document)

1. Drivetrain
2. Intake

3. Ball Path
4. Launcher

5. Climber

(6 is controls and doesn't have a document yet, most of it will be in Drivetrain)

7. Prototypes and Sketches 

- Spectrum

2022 Day 15 and 16: Full Climb Video

 Climber Testing

We added a crossbar between the hooks and moved our string to pull from around the lower arm pivot shaft and pull on the crossbar. This allows us to pull down closer to a straight line from the hooks to the spool. We also added some pool noodles so that if (when) this chassis falls off the bar it won't be damaged as badly.

After some more testing, we were able to get a successful climb sequence. 

Video

This version of the prototype doesn't currently work when we added weight (35lb plate) because it's powered with a timing belt, the competition one will likely be chain or gear driven. This climb also takes the robot to a full latch on the traversal bar which in our current design this likely brings part of our bumper above the high bar (a G108 violation) so we will only pull off the high bar and hang from the top hooks in a real match.

Launcher Prototype

Our launcher prototype is coming along and we should have some test video coming soon. The current plan is a flywheel with a top roller, adjustable hood, and turret. If we need to reduce features they will probably keep that priority order, the turret is nice to have but not necessary, the hood could be simplified to 2 positions instead of continuous, and the top roller should allow us to launch balls into the goals with less energy in the ball when they enter to reduce bounce-outs.

- Spectrum

2022 Day 14 & 15: More Climber Testing

 Climber Testing

We constructed more of a "climber chassis" over the past few days to be able to simulate the climber with both arms.

The first test of the climber chassis did work well. We didn't do a full continuous climb but if you want to watch multiple videos they are all in this gallery. The video below is the prototype moving from the high bar to the traversal mostly by itself.

Video

This prototype is still only powered by a single motor and we will be adding bars across the arms to help synchronize their motion. We will also be adding weight to the chassis to see how it changes the climber's behavior.

2022 Day 12 & 13: Swerve Assembly and Controls Priorities

Swerve Assembly

We began the assembly of our Swerve Drive Specialities MK4i modules that we are planning to use this season. We used the MK3 modules this summer at the Texas Cup and believe the MK4i will fit our design better this year along with having the 1.5" wide wheels.

Controls Priorities

Our controls team met to go over our priorities for the season and to split up into areas of focus.

Climber Testing

The test climber had another accident, it also had some successes but the accident are more interesting as we learn what needs to be improved.

Video

- Spectrum

2022 Day 10 & 11: Weekly Recap

Tuesday's our weekly Design Recap.

Photon 8515 will be building a modified Everybot this year and we will try to publish the changes and additions we make to the design.

- Spectrum

2022 Day 9: Bootcamp Build Day & a successful climber prototype

 Bootcamp Build Day

We started the day with our 1st Bootcamp Build Day of the year we had students and teachers representing 5 young Houston area teams on site for a few hours to answer their questions, give design advice, and help with the FRC control system. Members of Pearadox FRC5414 were here to help as part of our partnership in the Houston FRC Development Program this year. Our next session is in two weeks and we will be helping teams finish up their drive bases, electronics, and making progress on their robots. 

Climber Test

We were able to rebuild the climber prototype after last night's crash and improve it in the process. Below is a video of it successfully pulling from one bar to the other. With a little help to limit the swinging this time. In the next version, we will add springs to extend the upper arm and a pneumatic cylinder to extend the lower arm.

Video

The theory behind the climb

Here is the basic idea of how we currently plan to implement the climb.

- Spectrum

2022 Day 7 & 8: Intake Testing and a New Climber Concept

Intake Testing

We started on a more complete intake test rig with bumpers and more adjustability.

Video

We are using silicone bands in this video, soft silicone has worked well in our past intakes (2019) and it appears to grip the balls well this year.

Simple Tests

A lot of our "prototypes" don't need to be complicated to prove concepts. In this quick clip we used part of a prototype from 2020 to see how the balls would behave if we used a timing belt as part of  a ball tower.

Video

Climber Concepts

 We began working on a new climber concept that uses a double-jointed arm that extends with springs and climbs with a winch. The geometry of this climb appears to work better than some of the others we were working on.

We spent time today mocking it up with laser-cut parts and 3D printed connectors. The 2 extra CIMs are just for ballast to simulate the center of mass of the actual robot.

We were able to complete the construction of our practice hangar and run the prototype on it. One of the first attempts with the prototype went one of the more predictable ways.

Video

We will rebuild it this weekend with lessons learned (more perimeters in the prints, more gussets, and bolts/rivets into the tubing) and hopefully future attempts will be more successful. Failures like these are to be expected while prototyping, this is why we often use scrap material or cheap and quick-to-make parts like the 3D printed tube connectors and shaft collars. Failing quickly is one of the best ways to get a robust system in your final robot.'

- Spectrum

2022 Day 6: Climber Model

 We made a 1/5th scale model of one of our climber ideas. This one has several issues, and some of them are caused by it being scaled-down, and some of them are likely inherent in the design.

We made several interactions, printed, and laser cut some parts, so the joints acted more like we wanted; we also added nuts to simulate the robot's center of gravity. These helped but didn't fully solve the problems.

More videos and photos can be found in our photo gallery: 

https://photos.spectrum3847.org/2022-FRC-1/2022-Build-Season-1/Week-1/

From playing with this model and doing more CAD sketches, we will likely add another degree of freedom to the system, most likely a motor (possibly pneumatic) to extend and retract the hook on the arm. This should allow the climb to behave correctly across various center of gravity positions and enable us to quickly climb to the mid-bar without fully completing the first curl of the whole climb sequence. We also still discussing if we will use chain/sprockets or a Dyneema cord winch to power the arm joint. 

Here is a sketch of the new configuration; this has a 6 in extension and appears to work with a center of mass 6.5" to 15" and roughly centered in the robot. Not shown, but if we needed this climb should be able to curl onto the low bar for 4 pts. 

- Spectrum

2022 Day 5

Wednesdays are normally pretty slow. We got some more parts cut for our practice field elements, did some manual intake material testing (i.e. rubbed lots of types of rubber and wheels on the balls), and we had an awards meeting this evening to get our Chairman's Essay nearly finished.

We were able to inflate the balls to the proper 3.5 psi, before today all the gauges we had in the lab didn't read that low. We purchased a digital inflator from Amazon that very easily inflates the balls to 3.5 psi automatically and it works great. We were testing balls at various states of inflation since we didn't know what was right, in general, most of our balls were underinflated in any previous test to what degree we don't know (we didn't have a gauge that could read it remember). The balls are very firm when fully inflated to the spec 3.5 psi.

Link to the inflator - https://amzn.to/3Fn329g

The push will be to do more intake and climber prototyping over the next few days.

- Spectrum

2022 Day 4: Design Slides, Recap, and FIRST Choice

 Design Slides

We have decided to make a public version of our design slides this year during the season. We use the google slides document to keep track of large parts of our season. We create slides for our weekly design recaps and collect notes and ideas about the robot. We will update the public version a few times a week with slides from our internal notes (if we share the private one, you all can watch us type, and that's a tad weird).

PUBLIC - Infrared 2022 Robot Slides

Design Recap

Today was our first design recap. It was an overview of our intent for each mechanism, along with updates on testing and design progress. Here are a few of the sample slides from tonight.

FIRST Choice Recommendations Updated for Round 2

Our 2022 FIRST Choice and Voucher Guide has been updated with a sample priority list for Round 2.

Every team gets 710 more credits, and some really great items have been added that will probably help your team be sure to submit your priority list before Jan 20th. 

- Spectrum