DEWBOT X Hatboro-Horsham Shooter Failure
- Modifying shooter code to extend the fire period
- Adding a third and then a fourth air storage tank
- Replacing the shooter solenoid
During match 11, a GoPro camera was set up to watch the pressure gauges. This video shows that the pneumatic system lost pressure at an extraordinary rate during the first 20 seconds of teleoperated play, consuming the entire storage reserve (two 35 in3 tanks at the time) during those 20 seconds. Thereafter, both storage and regulated pressure were identical, ranging between 30 and 45 psig. This pressure is too low for the shooter cylinder to retract the winch's dog gear. The compressor never turned off during the match.
So the proximate cause of the shooter failure was low air pressure.
Air Demand
There are three users of compressed air, the Roller Frame, Shot Angle and Shooter. Air requirements for each of these are:
The Roller Frame is the big air user, requiring over 20 in3 of air (at regulated working pressure) for each cycle. The Roller Frame is also the most frequently deployed air user on the robot. Data from H-H videos reveal the following use frequencies:
Proposed Specifications
Starting with the Hatboro-Horsham frequencies, and assuming that this will increase as the season progresses, a proposal pneumatic specification should allow proper robot function (ability to fire the shooter) during matches having up to:
- 20 cycles of Roller Frame actuation
- 10 cycles of Shot Angle actuation
- 10 cycles of Shooter actuation
Leading to the following compressed air requirements:
Air Storage
DEWBOT X started H-H with two (2) 35 in3 Clippard air storage tanks and finished the competition with four (4) such tanks. The amount of utilizable air stored in these tanks depends upon the difference between storage and working (regulated) pressures. The exact relationship is:
