After we made some final touches on the claw for our robot, we started to attach the motors in order to make it function. We first made the gears on the claws sturdier so that it is able to endure the force that will be delivered by the motors. With stronger shaft collars, motors and the correct plates, the claw was even more stabilized especially with the motors. The motors also helped the shaft to stay in place. Next period, we plan on to add arms and find a solution to make the claw usable during the match.
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There were some mistakes on our base such as the wires of the cortex could not reach some of the wheels so we had to move the upper part of the robot with the cortex so all of the wheels can be connected with the cortex. We also finished up moving the wheels a bit closer to the cortex to try to utilize the space of our base. While some of the group was modifying the base, the rest of the group started brainstorming ideas about the claw and started building the basis of the claw.
We decided to dedicate this block to think about how we are going to make the robot successful during the game. With several discussions within our group, we determined that the wheels are a detrimental factor in going up and down the platforms. These discussions were really meaningful because it helped coordinate our plan efficiently. Thus, we decided to modify the base so that wheels can support the robot when it is going up the platform or the stadium. We tried to run some test runs on the actual platform to see if it goes up. All at the same time, we kept in mind that there was a limit on the robot’s length and width, and we might have to move some parts so that it fits the 18 by 18 by 18 inch parameter.
Setting up Goals
We moved the wheels in front of the robot in order to help with the movement of the robot when it tries to go up the platform. We decided the put the wheel because this would help the robot move up the platform in the stadium. If the wheelbase is shorter, the back wheels are able to touch the edge on the platform, supporting the robot to move up. We made several trials to find the sufficient location for the back wheels and that took us a lot of time. Also, we decided to put supporting wheels that are small. This week our group managed to finish attaching all the motors, thus finishing the overall base of our robot. We all decided to ditch the 7:6 gear ratio in favor of two extra motors for both more torque and speed in the field, as well as extra space on the sides of our base in case our end-effectors require it later. After securely fastening all the wheels and motors to our base, we split off into two groups. One group collected the micro-controller and battery, as well as all the required cables, and began attaching them to the base. The other group opened up ROBOTC on a computer and began programming for our basic skid steer drivetrain. There are a couple loose ends to tie up with our current prototype, an example being our current cable management, and potentially even the position of our microcontroller and battery, but by next time we should be able to begin putting together our end-effectors, and maybe even test them out.
After tightening the loose screws and shafts of the wheels, our group decided to add the motors to the base. We all agreed to use a gear ratio of 7:6, using the 84 tooth gear and the 60 tooth gear. To make sure that all the motors were working, we had to test each one separately using a basic forward drive code. The hard part about this was finding good shaft collars that had screws inside in a decent state. The majority of the collars had messed up screws, making it almost impossible to use. To fix this problem, members of our group separated the working shaft collars and the ones that didn’t work. For next time, we have to finish attaching all the motors securely and also attach c channels to the outside of the base to stabilize the wheels and the gears that will connect the two motors we use to the driven gears.
Today we created the system for the wheels. The challenging part for today was finding the correct hole to stick the wheel shaft in. In order to go up the platform in the middle of the stadium, we needed to choose the hole on the metal that is closer to the ground so that we have more clearance under the base. We also needed to make the wheels extrude out of the base so that the wheels are able to have grip and push itself up on the high platform. Another challenge for us today was to find the functioning shaft collars. Many of the collars were malfunctioning, delaying our process of building.
This week we had to think of ideas to build the base, and it was quite hard to think of the most strategic base for this type of game. Building a base from scratch was not easy—we had to go over some ideas that would be good for this game. The considerable numbers of discussions we had among our group proves that we are working as a team to make the base. We started building a base and the sheer amount of endeavors that we had to go through in order to build the base was daunting. After figuring out where the wheels and the axles should go, the team made many adjustments to make sure that the base was suitable for the game. By making several trials and errors, we hope to make this VEX robot a success.
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November 2018
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