DEWBOT IX Build

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Revision as of 15:36, 15 January 2013 by MaiKangWei (talk | contribs) (Week One (1/13-1/19))

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The 2013 build season starts hard on the heels of an unexpected and very fast move from 427 Creamery Way, Exton to 122 Oscar Way, Chester Springs. we're still setting up shop even as we head off to kick-off. My old friend Nietzsche used to say: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I sure hope so...

Because we'll need it! Build season is the heart of the FRC year. It is the 45 days during which the team's students and mentors put their hearts, minds and hands into designing and building a great robot. The time is both far too short and much too long.

This page contains a day by day breakdown of what we did. Dates hyper-links go to the corresponding photo gallery.

Kickoff

  • On Saturday, January 5th, team 1640 students, parents and mentors drove to Upper Darby High School on to see the objectives of the 2013 game revealed, examine a mock-up of this year’s play pieces up close, and pick up our kit of parts.
  • Clem McKown gave a pneumatics seminar to a packed audience
  • We returned to Oscar Way and reviewed rules (shop & game)
  • Studentbots simulated the game
  • A number of potential strategies (King Kong, Feeder, LowBot, Mid Dunker & High Shooter - not necessarily mutually exclusive) were developed to help guide our prototyping efforts
  • Scoring simulation made for each strategy
  • Potential strategic objectives identified and assessed along different metrics
  • Multiple climbing strategies under investigation
  • Begun collecting data, videos, reports etc on differ disc launchers

Week One (1/6-1/12)

Sunday 6-January

  • Set up the Ben Table as a 1/7th scale model of the Ultimate AscentSM competition field.
  • Studied a lot of disc shooter videos & designs
  • Identified several different shooter approaches and created punchlist for full prototyping operation
  • Started prototyping shooter mechanisms
  • Built a PVC portion of the pyramid for climbing tests
  • Taped up goal targets
  • Inventoried Kit of Parts (all present & accounted for)
  • Corner caterpillar climb concept under development

Monday 7-January

  • Shooter prototype (arc shooter) is working pretty well
  • Kellom Klimb concept under development
  • Magazine prototype built & tested
  • Preliminary planning done by the programming team (see programming projects)

Tuesday 8-January

  • Electrical service run for the mill & welder (thank you, Keares Electrical, Inc!)
  • Magazine development promising
  • Goals being built
  • Linear shooter testing in alpha (same results as arc alpha)
  • Tank drive code on 6WD bot re-done and tested – successful
  • Quadrature encoder code testing underway on programming sensor/test board

Wednesday 9-January

  • 90deg Arc shooter prototype is performing well
  • Kellom Klimb prototype simplified
  • Corner caterpillar math developed
  • Magazine in beta prime stage
  • Arc Shooter working very well, thank you
  • Tested and determined linear shooter infeasible for our team
  • Welder working first time since Waterloo. Kira & Marina are welding graduates!
  • Retro-reflective target for targeting system development made and preliminary target system code started
  • Programmers began converting 2012 code to 2013 framework, starting with 6WD tank drive and sensor/test board programs

Thursday 10-January

  • Articulated some key robot strategies & objectives – prioritized without cutoff mandates
  • Drive-train decision made (Pivots!)
  • Set key programming objectives
  • Started cutting and welding for pyramid
  • Switching shooter prototypes (4" & 6" wheel versions) to HiGrip wheels
  • Started mapping resources to functions
  • Started articulating functional specifications

Friday 11-January

Okay. This was supposed to be a day off. Not a real meeting, but a chance to get a large part of the pyramid welded.
  • Welded top and bottom horizontal squares for the pyramid. Middle is in two halfs still.
  • Milled feet for the pyramid
  • Finished top goal
  • Started chassis CAD

Saturday 12-January

  • WildCogs meeting!
  • Rough cut pivot top plate metal (1/8" 7075 Al)
  • Empirically tested 6” & 4” shooter
  • Disassemble previous pivots for parts
DEWBOT IX Week One Build Season Photo Gallery

Week Two (1/13-1/19)

Sunday 13-January

  • Rough cut Pivot Side & Top plates (1/2" 6061 Al), pivot module bottom plates (3/16" 6061 Al) & pivot braces (1/8" 7075 Al)
  • CAD completed on machined pivot parts. Holes were added for mounting a Hall-effect sensor and for securing wires from both sensor and motors.
  • Machined pivot parts were laid out for CNC milling
  • Started cutting down miter gears
  • Assembled pyramid in large measure, but did not start welding.
  • Built middle goal
  • Confirm strategy lock post-Wild Cogs
  • Continue/integrate magazines with shooter
  • Parts reclaimed from old spare pivots (miter gears, gearboxes, bearings, etc.)
  • Materials ordered for 2013 pivots after inventorying reclaimed materials. We will build 10 pivot modules (enough for 2 robots and 2 spares)

Monday 14-January

  • Completed welding the pyramid (for climbing - excluding top goal)
  • Shooter definitions developed; reliability tested; shooter angles determined for pyramid shot.
  • Magazine and chambering prototype convincingly demontrated
  • Rough chassis is in CAD

Tuesday 15-January

Wednesday 16-January

Thursday 17-January

Saturday 19-January

DEWBOT IX Week Two Build Season Photo Gallery

Bag and Tag

Tuesday, 19-February is the end of build season. We need to bag and tag our competition robot before midnight.