DEWBOT VIII

Team "ship night" photo

DEWBOT VIII is Team 1640's answer to the challenge of FIRST's 2012 game, Rebound Rumble.

Design Details

Strategic Objectives

Drive Train

The

Hybrid Drive-train

key drive-train requirements for Rebound Rumble were:

Ability to cross the mid-field line via either the Bridge or going over the Barrier (Need)
The ability to drive in the wide orientation in order to fit three robots on a Bridge (Need)
The ability to drive in the wide orientation to facilitate ball pick-up from the playing field (Need)
Avoid blocking robots, especially between Key & Bridge (Desired)
Ability to lock wheels on the Bridge to avoid rolling off when power is cut (Desired)

While not a specific strategic requirement, it was perceived that the ability to drive in the narrow orientation would make crossing over the Barrier safer & easier.

Furthermore, if pivot drive was used, it was decided that the shooter would be aimed my rotating the robot, rather than via a rotating turret (not applicable if tank drive was selected). The logic was that pivot driva enabled the entire robot to become a turret, so we should exploit this and avoid a redundant turret.

To meet these needs, it was decided to design DEWBOT VIII with a Hybrid drive-train comprising (4) Pivot Modules for general mobility and (2) driven 8" Pneumatic Wheels specifically for crossing over the barrier.

Ball Collection & Lift

Shooter

Bridge Manipulation

Control

Field

Design Process

Events

Move into 427 Creamery Way

On 13-August-2011, Downingtown Area Robotics moved into the warehouse at 427 Creamery Way, Exton. Waterloo Gardens is generously and graciously allowing the team to use this facility. Another great space for robotics, allowing a full-scale practice field. We are very grateful to Waterloo Gardens for the use of this building. Again, no sense of permanence. Our 7^th home to-date.

All training is shifted immediatly to the new site. This is a fine place to build a robot!

Siri Maley leading design class
Clem McKown - Drive Train basics
Douglas & Gary Deaver
Ben Kellom leads SolidWorks Training
Ian & Mike B driving
Lucy & Ben Kellom working on SolidWorks

Fall Project - Robot design

Team discussing ideas around field mock-up table during Practice Kickoff

Team 1640's Fall Project is the complete design of a robot for an old FRC game (outside the team's memory). We selected the 2003 game, Stack Attack for this exercise.

The Project started with a well-attended Practice Kickoff on 17-September.

Fall Project - Pivot Drive Value Engineering

The design of the 2011 Pivot Drive System will be reviewed with the intent of:

Reducing mass
Reducing cost
Reducing mill time
Improving reliability
Improving performance

Pancake Breakfast

Our AppleBee's Pancake Breakfast on 16-October-2011 raised nearly $1,500 for the team.

Boeing Ridley Park Plant Tour - 5-November-2011

The team toured Boeing's Ridley Park helicopter plant, together with teams 341, 365 & 486. The V-22 Osprey and CH-47 Chinook assembly lines were visited, as well as Boeing's Wind Tunnel and Flight Simulation facilities.

STEM Academy & DEHS Robot Demonstrations - 18-Nov-2011

Team Sab-BOT-age and recently retired DEWBOT VII demonstrated the benefits of FRC to Downingtown STEM Academy and East Students in back-to-back demos.

Teams

People

Team Sab-BOT-age is what it is only due to the efforts of the people involved. DEWBOT VIII's success will be in the hands of the students, mentors and parents engaged. The team's very existence is possible only through the gracious generosity of our sponsors.

DEWBOT VIII Students: DEWBOT VIII Mentors; Sponsors 2012

See our other robots at FRC Team 1640