http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5176/0051ty.jpg
Here’s another taste.
Wow. Does the holonomic work well, or does it fish tail (center of drive base = center of mass?)
With the arm up, the holonomic works perfectly, but with the arm down, we so get a little bit of error in our drive. We’re going to play around with some counterweight to see if we can make its arm down motion a little better. The original plan was to have auto correcting closed loop control, but since the event starts on Wednesday and it hasn’t been started yet, it probably won’t be ready by then.
Andrew, is this red haired former FIT Andrew that I knew from Piratech?
-Cody
I like these things. It’s too bad you don’t have the new HS chain kits because you could have made use of the new treads with mounting holes.
Requested Specs:
Drive speed/ratio (whichever is easier)
Ball Capacity
Which dimension is your 24"
Motor distribution
Feel free to keep anything a secret if you feel it completely necessary 
I’m sure i will think of a few others.
Good Luck
~DK
Formerly red haired, but still the same guy. Will Piratech be represented at Dallas?
We actually tried drilling holes in our tank tread links, but we found that the nuts/bolt heads got in the way of our tread wheels. Also, we’re using fortysome strips of polycarb on each robot, and without a mill or drill press available, that’s a lot of holes to drill.
Now as for the specs on those two…
-4 Motor direct drive X style holonomic drive train
-2 Motor arm lift with LOTS of elastic assist
-4 Motor articulated conveyor
-The back wall serves a triple function, the first as a wall, the second as a ball catcher/basket for additional storage, and the third as an unloading assist as the top tread does not extend all the way back.
-They are 24" long, the wall pops up at the beginning of the match.
-Our conveyor capacity is as follows: 1 White ball, 5 Orange balls or 15 Green balls. That does not take into account balls stacking in the basket.
Thanks for all the positive comments, be sure to stop by our pit in Dallas to see them in person!
Why are you only using 10 motors? I though college teams were allowed more than 10.
~DK
I was waiting for this one. To be completely honest, we had originally planned on four motors for the arm lift, but we didn’t have the space. We only got started 5 weeks ago, so as of yet, we haven’t found a use for the extra motors that we can implement before Dallas.
You could toss them on your DT. I know holo drives are usually 4 or 8 motors but i have seen 6 motor holo drive as well. If you put them on one side you may be able to reduce the fishtailing as well.
~DK
We thought of putting them up front, but space up front is tight with the hugeness of the conveyor and the placement of the controls. That would help a little with the fish tailing, but its just as easy to add counterweight as needed.
another thing to consider is moving the wheels out all the way… for holomonic drive systems, you want the wheels as far out as possible… try building a frame where they are on the outside…
I think what they meant was that since there is more weight in the front, the farther out the front wheels are, the less amount of “fish tailing” you will get.
Jordan
I think what they meant was that since there is more weight in the front, the farther out the front wheels are, the less amount of “fish tailing” you will get.
Jordan
Congrats to Andrew, Chuck, Joe and Pat on winning the College Division Excellence Award at the VEX World Championships!!! Keep up the good work but stay humble, remember I knew you when you were a bunch of goofy kids with no clue who joined the robotics team:D
Yes, you guys completely deserved the excellence award, I enjoyed seeing all of you guys and I surely hope to see you guys next year!
My only regret is that the “Cody Wall” wasn’t able to live up to it’s name.
Believe me, we feel the same way. Although we never faced each other, the '“Cody-Catcher” did manage to grab a few balls in our scrimmage against 101b(Radnor Robotics) And 76(Driven Nuts). Thanks to everyone who made KTOR’s first VWC an absolutely amazing event!
REMIND me to get you the edited HD video for those matches. I’ll need a few days to catch up on college as finals are coming.
-Cody