Strategy & Design Update - Day #0
Hello everyone - We are very excited for the start of another great season in REBUILT! Below are some of our ideas, strategies, and sketches we have been working on. We will update sometime on January 11 about CAD updates. We would also very much appreciate any feedback, concerns, or questions.
Kickoff and initial thoughts:
After gathering around to watch the kickoff, we quickly started on filling out our worksheets.
During this time, we would rewatch the animation, read through the game manual, and ask questions to each other. About 2 hours in, we started organizing our key points for this robot by dividing the aspects into 4 categories: Must, Should, Could, Won’t. (yea, ik the could and should are flipped)
Into the night:
For our designs, we are working on updating our belly pan with an “under-intake” battery/RIO, and figuring out where to fit our PDH while minimizing the wasted space for fuel. We are also thinking about putting some our electronics vertically, wherever we find “dead space” in the robot so as to further minimize the wasted ball space. We’re thinking of an indexer very much akin to 254’s from 2017, while also looking into ones from other teams, such as 118.
This game is going to be EXTREMELY software/macro heavy, as we see it. Having an automated intaking and shooting system will be key, and doing BOTH of those at once even better. Hence, we thought of turrets.
For turrets, we originally wondered if one would be enough throughput for the 25 second periods, or even 10 second period at the start of tele, and so we made a quick prototype, simply using a 4" green compliant wheel (the neoprene treaded one’s DESTROY the gamepieces), and seeing what happens.
Based off what we can see, one is more than enough. Constantly shooting, and intaking at the same time through having a turret/swerve and good software is our current goal for V1 of our REBUILT robot.
Quick Hang thoughts
This design represents an early prototype of our hanging hook concept. The goal is to protect the aluminum structure while improving grip and stability during the climb. Instead of the bar directly contacting rigid aluminum, it first hits a set of compliant wheels, allowing it to roll into place rather than denting or scratching the frame. As the hook engages, the compliant wheels compress around the bar, helping the mechanism hold more securely. While the geometry is still very rough, this prototype establishes the core idea of using compliance to absorb impact, grip the bar, and potentially reduce swaying while hanging.
