• bumper rails are done (starting on bumpers tomorrow because we get wood tomorrow)

• lower essie roller mount is subjectively done

• some issues with essie but seems fixable with polycarb etc.

• waiting for more bolts to mount more gears

• will add support on the side of the essie soon

• DCC (drag chain climb) mount is being cadded

Essie

• holes for rollers are done

• rearrange the wheels on the shafts

• started riveting polycarb

• need to put on versa blocks on the other side

• it works!!

arm

• on the bot, may change the gear ratio (switch with the top roller one?)

• it works!!

Drivetrain

• put cams on

• Verasblock holes cut out in Essie polycarb

• Essie lower roller holes drilled and assembled

  • it works!!!

  • Next steps: need to finish tapping one side and add a pulley to another

• Bumper rail on

  • Need to recut front standoff things

  • Need to cut brackets

• Drivetrain

  • need to put CAMs on

• 1/2 churros for drivetrain tapped, need to check if bolt fits

• 3/4 small holes drilled for lower roller

• upper and lower Essie shafts assembled

• back supports riveted to inner support plate

What to buy from the metal supermarket…

• to buy 2x1 aluminum:
  6061 alloy type, rectangular tube, aluminum
  T6 sharp corner 2x1x0.125, 60 inch, enter quantity, check price

• to buy 1x1 aluminum:
  6061 alloy type, rectangular tube, aluminum
  T6 sharp corner 1x1x0.125, 60 inch, enter quantity, check price

• semi-frequently use 1/16 instead of 1/8 because it is lighter

Discussed bumper construction materials

Compression for shooter is 1 in

Intake:

• flap works pretty well, looking for some glove like things that flap

Shooter:

• is good, just need to measure compression

• more rpm testing will happen with actual bot

Talked about possible motors, gear ratios and gear boxes for all the motors on the bot

• The graph shows the torque estimated required to move the intake arm

  • DESMOS link

• Jamboard hold lists to motors chosen

  • Jamboard link

Updated Members about design issue and redesign

• The bot using the Essie design was too tall for the lower rung and it was vital we entered on the rungs forwards not sideways

• The solution was to create a shooting mechanism to make up for the shortened height, which will require calibration to determine the right speed for the motors

• The intake was also updated to a mecanum intake roller on a long arm that extends behind Essie as we noticed the balls are significantly bouncier and would require more control to funnel into the tower. Also, previous experience with the "Essie" intake determined that it cannot intake two balls rolling side by side as it doesn't work well

• The shooter is possibly being built by Bryce or Jeremy, not final

Rough 2D sketch of Design (Linked Below)

Order list from vex

Search for mecanum wheel size

• 2 inches seem to be good for the intake wheels

Coordinated a list with all materials and tools required to use for build season

There will be no in-person meetings next week.

For now, these are the people mainly working on mechanism prototypes.
Intake: Yume and Sreela 
Ball tube: Jeremy Wong
DCC: Santiago
Field element: Bryce

Intake

• If ball is very bouncy, Essie might not work

• We need to wait for when we get the game piece

• Hesitant mecanum wheels because of the fluff

Climb

• Santiago is doing CAD

• Not much prototyping is needed for it

• We can figure something out about the hook later on

  • Santiago has an idea where there is material that travels up with the hook and then retracts when attached

  • Don’t want to cause our hook to fall

  • Flex wheel to allow for lack of possible issues with another robot hitting us

To do list for when we go back in person:

We planned what we'll need to do when we go back in person to prototype. We also discussed what we should do before we go back (hopefully). Some things we need to figure out for the include wheel type for intake, wheel height (design/prototyping thing), and ramp/ramp angle. For DCC, we'll need to figure out what type of hook we want, how we're going to attach it, how we're going to deploy it, etc. For the ball tube (the part which connects the intake to the outtake), we'll need to figure out if we're using belts/cords, the tension/compression, and the distance of it.

More information is written on the Jamboard.

DCC: Created a prototype for DCC. This mechanism is not going to take up much space. An additional pro is that we are very loose on where we can place it on the bot. Note: DCC does not have to be in center of gravity - the rope has to be in center of gravity.

Essie: Due to the lower hub being a bit higher than expected: we will essentially have Essie at an angle with a curve near the top (probably made with polycarb) and one/two wheels to add momentum to slightly shoot the cargo.

Intake: Discussed having a slight funnel shape opening for our back-intake to help guide the cargo into the intake (this will make it easier for the drivers).

Discussed using retaining pins for bumper mounting (more efficient to unassemble and reassemble in between matches)

Weight-wise, having the gearboxes in the middle of our drivetrain makes more sense, in order to keep the robot balanced.

Currently considering using poly cord in between the wheels for Essie.

Additional Notes:

Currently in the process of ordering gearboxes

We recommend all members to research what other teams are using for their intake and outake wheels, let us know what information you are able to find in the design forum. (Ri3D, Instagram, and Chief Delphi are useful resources)

4 inch wheels (4in x 1.5in colsons): there aren't many things on the field, smaller wheel = less gearing = less weight

Gearbox: Buy from Vex, WCP SS Gearbox. (WCD version, so we can fit sprockets)

Planning to use no pneumatics

Speed: 13ft/s - last year was 12ft/s so we wanted to go faster

Single Intake (from back) - We would get enough balls that we need with just having 1 intake, it's also simpler, therefore a smarter option.

Hanging: “Drag clain climb” (DCC) - uses a drag chain (drag chain only moves/bends one way) and a rope to send up a hook around the rung (correct me if I'm wrong)

Pros/cons jamboard for hanging mechanisms (DCC vs Arm vs Elevator)

Discussed about wheels that will be used for new essie (name tbd) - compliant or flex? Need to keep the fuzziness of the balls in mind.

Tank drive

Brainstormed name ideas for bears: Ursa, Callisto, etc

Work being done outside of meeting: Working on DriveTrain (William), and Ball Path (Santiago).