Welcome back everyone! This is the notes from the robotics meeting that occurred at 5:30 PM on Monday. There were quite a few important discussions, so please read the entire post.
0. St. Louis
WE ARE GOING TO ST. LOUIS! (LINK to list of teams invited)
1. Packing the Robot
Now, St. Louis is quite far away from St. Mark’s, and we need to move the robot all the way there. One possible way of moving the robot is by putting it on a crate we used previously. The crate has an outer dimension of the following:
- Height: ~63 inches
- Bottom Area: 48 inches by 39 inches
- Side Diagonal (48 by ~63): 77 inches
If we use the crate, we will have to disassemble the robot slightly (which is allowed as long as we don’t work on it) to lower the conveyor belt.
Also, the crate was designed to fit the old robot, which had different dimensions (and had bumpers.) We should also figure out how to make the robot fit tightly on the crate.
2. Game Strategy – Stacks
Our robot, by itself, can do a stack of four totes. (4) However, our robot can also place one on top of four (4+1), two on top of three (3+2), three on top of two (2+3). We should time the number of seconds each task takes and compare them.
We should also figure out if our robot is capable of putting three totes on top of three on the scoring platform. (3+3)
Note that we only have three recycling containers in our field at the beginning of the game, so unless we get more containers from the step, we can only put a container on three stacks.
3. Game Strategy – Recycling Container (RC) Removal
On a similar note, it will be important to bring the RC on the step to our side of the field. There has been teams that reached far out during autonomous and grabbed RCs. We might want to build a mechanism to do so.
It would be awesome if we can also build something that could put a RC lying down back to its upright position, but we should think if this is a reasonable attempt given our limited time.
4. Game Strategy – Autonomous
Getting all three totes during autonomous might be bold as of now, but getting two reliably would still be great. If we have two on our robot at the end of AUTO, we can quickly put this on the step for coopertition stack and start clearing the LANDFILL.
5. Game Strategy – Choreography
There is still an important improvement that can be made without adding anything on the robot. It is important that our robot does not collide or disturb other robots in our alliance and vice versa.
6. Belts
Simply, we need more belts!
Also, it would be great if we can have a Emergency Belt Repair Kit with VHB-attached hooks so that we can quickly put a new hook on a belt in case one of them was removed. This would be helpful in tight schedule or during the finals.
Thank you all for reading!