Week 1

​This week we had a few deadlines: By Saturday at 4 PM, the chassis was designed. By Sunday at 4 PM, the prototypes for the hatch was assembled, finished, and one needed to be decided on.

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​The Chassis:

• West Coast Drive Train
• There has also been space added for pistons and a possible climbing mechanism.   

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Prototypes:

• The Hatch:
  • First priority is hatches because we know that based on the skill level of our team, we will be the most efficient and realistic.
  • "The Duck Bill"
    • The Duckbill is run by a piston , which is attached to hollowed shafts and has zip ties running through them, attaching them to both the piston and the PVC pipe.
    • Originally, it was very difficult to get the zip ties and previous attachment from the piston to the PVC pipe to keep from twisting and staying out of line, so this specific design works very well and fixes multiple problems.
    • We cut the bills by creating a stencil, tracing it on the PVC pipe, and cutting it carefully on the bandsaw.

NOTE: (There are some issues--mainly--the piston we are using has a leak, and we do not have another piston of that size, so keep that in mind….. Also. The field piece is not fully assembled and still needs to be velcroed to the floor. It will not fall over in real life.)

Duck Bill Video

• The Hatch #2:
  • The Velcro
    • The Velcro prototype is made by 1X2's, velcro, staples, a 3-D printed cone, springs, and 2 pistons
    • The hatch is held on by two pieces of velcro attached to piece of plywood.
    • We had concern with centering it, so we 3-D printed a cone in order to center it before it attaches to the velcro.
    • We also wanted to give the drive team room for error, so they did not have to be so exact. To do this we added springs between the plywood sheet and the 1x2. We also created 3-D parts, which hold the springs in place.
    • Additionally, the 1x2 is attached to the plywood through a rotating axis.
    • Then, in order to push the hatch off, there are 2 pistons that push the hatch off from the robot and on to the cargo ship.
      
      

The Velcro Video

• Duck Bill vs The Velcro
  • We chose the duckbill because not only was it more consistent, but it also has less unknowns.
    
  • For example, Chief Delphi tried to find out how well the velcro on field pieces will hold up, and the more you used it, the less it held the hatch. For more information, use this pros and cons list.
    
    

• Ball Shooter:
  
  • The Baller
    
    • This is the 2nd priority for us.
      
    • This is a very basic prototype. However, the goal is to have the ball come in, have the wheels stop and hold it in place.
      
    • The wheels are stopped, yet they will still be touching the ball and will then will shoot it out in the same place it was inputted.
      
    • The main issues with this are that the bars are too far apart on the sides. They need to be moved about 17 inches apart.
      
    • The ball also does not always stay pushed up against the wheels and lexan walls must be fit in order to keep it in place and touching the walls.
      
    • FOR THE NEXT PROTOTYPE: The placement of wheels will be crucial along with the placement of posts and the exact shape of lexan walls. Additionally, it needs to be decided how the motor will run both shafts or only one, and if they will be attached through a belt or chain, etc.
      
    • This prototype will be continued to be worked on throughout week 2 and 3.
      

The Baller Video

• The Climber
  • This is low priority for us. We re-designed part of the electrical board in order to allow for the possibility of climbing.
  • The current design or way we would do this would be similar to this climb video linked to the side.

Ri3D Team FIRST Climb Video