Hey guys,
Our flywheel robot is HEAVY. I don’t have an exact weight, but I do know that our middle schoolers struggle to lift it. We are made of mostly steel (only being that it is cheaper and we were tight on funding in the beginning of the season). I have attached a picture for reference (EDIT: it’s the lifted robot). Currently we seem to have a problem. Our drive will frequently stall, before it starts working again maybe 10+ seconds later. Obviously this hurts our ability in matches.
I have two theories, both of which could be true…
- We’re tripping a PTC of the Cortex
- We’re too heavy!
Below is how we have the motors plugged in:
#pragma config(Sensor, dgtl1, leftBumper, sensorDigitalIn)
#pragma config(Sensor, dgtl2, rightBumper, sensorDigitalIn)
#pragma config(Sensor, dgtl3, fwEncoder1, sensorQuadEncoder)
#pragma config(Motor, port1, intakeMotor, tmotorVex393_HBridge, openLoop, reversed)
#pragma config(Motor, port2, rightFront, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop, reversed)
#pragma config(Motor, port3, leftFront, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop)
#pragma config(Motor, port4, rightRear, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop, reversed)
#pragma config(Motor, port5, leftRear, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop)
#pragma config(Motor, port6, flyWheel1, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop)
#pragma config(Motor, port7, flyWheel2, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop, reversed)
#pragma config(Motor, port8, flyWheel3, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop, reversed)
#pragma config(Motor, port9, flyWheel4, tmotorVex393_MC29, openLoop)
#pragma config(Motor, port10, intakeFront, tmotorVex393_HBridge, openLoop)
Our flywheel continuously spins, it ramps at the beginning of the match- then we use TBH to control the RPM of the flywheel throughout the match. We have plans to change this, to use a sensor to only ramp up when a ball is present- but the flywheel will continue to spin even though the drivetrain stops.
We have qualified for states- so we desperately need to make improvements in the next two weeks. So, should we reconfigure our ports so that we divide the half the flywheel and half the drive, or make the robot lighter using all aluminum… or BOTH?
If anyone has any thoughts or opinions, please let me know!
Thanks,
Steve