Week 3 Update
Hello everyone! Week 3 flew by for us! Here’s a look at what we did:
Drive Base
- Finished CAD models for the swerve dust covers and bed pan spacers and updated it in the drive base CAD.
- Electrical wired the drive base and started letting Robot Control Systems run calibrations on it.
- The drive base with electrical weighed 42.75 lbs.
- Need to finalize design of our sponsor panels- the panels need to be able to cover everything since the game pieces like to shed and we don’t want anything to break because small pieces of the game piece were interfering.
- Looking into redesigning the swerve dust covers so they fully cover the gears and provide a mount for the motors (inspired by the design from team 5561).
- Need to finalize the placement of the battery.
Here is the link for the motor covers that we were inspired by:
https://www.printables.com/model/643155-frc-motor-controller-mount-for-mk4-sds-swerve/files
Game Piece
- Continued to test the prototype of the shooter/intake at different angles and speeds, and recorded the success rate of each.
- Started connecting the intake/shooter assembly and arm assembly into one big assembly.
- Revised the arm design again and discussed ways to make it more accessible for maintenance.
- Decided on 2 NEOs for the shooter, 1 NEO 550 for the intake, 1 NEO for arm movement, and 1 NEO 550 for the arm brake.
- Decided on a brake mechanism that is driven by a worm gear box and involves bicycle brake calipers to stop the rotation of a brake disc on the axle that pivots the arm, stopping the arm movement.
- Created new mounting plates to strengthen the support of the arm superstructure that mounts to the drive base, and made the angled arm braces smaller. We also added holes to the mount plates connecting the vertical braces to the angle braces.
- Placement of the arm/intake/shooter is not final yet because we want everything to be easily accessible- we will be finalizing it this weekend
Besides working on our robot we also managed to fit in a Robot demo for one of our Elementary schools as well as having an Online FIRST Lobby Day!
After training teams at NYAC in December, we had 7 teams (including us) hold online meetings with their representatives to advocate for Bill A3445A and S1576B. We connected the teams with Lunsford’s office and provided them with materials to setup and hold their meetings. We provided template meeting request letters, one-pagers on FIRST and the bills we were advocating for, and a meeting script that they can edit for their own meetings. Our team met with Assemblyman Benedetto (Chair of the Assembly Education Committee), Senator Shelley Mayer’s staff, Assemblymember Amy Paulin’s staff, and Senator James Tedisco’s staff.
We talked about FIRST, the bills, and asked them to co-sponsor the bills.
We finished the meetings by inviting them to the STEAM Day demo at the Capitol and showing off our 2020 competition robot.
Morgan, Student Events Coordinator
TAGS: 2024, BUILD SEASON, CRESCENDO
