2024 Build Blog - Design Guidelines

Design Guidelines:

Inspired by Spectrum’s design guidelines we created our own. Our process was to run though Spectrum’s as a template, and steal the best and invent the rest. The “inventing the rest” for us looked like removing irrelevant guidelines or guidelines that didn’t reflect our own team limitations, and then adding any guidelines we have experienced. This is a process we have never previously documented before season, and only discussed.

Do

• Make a good robot (be in the meta)

• Low center of gravity

• Build compact robot

• Simple

• Swerve if viable

• Use brushless motors only

• Allow room for error

Don’t

• Telescoping elevator/arm

• Resting position shouldn’t need motor

• Use claws/pinching mechanisms

• Have unnecessary bumper cut outs

• Passively drop mechanisms

• Use pneumatics

• Try to do everything

• Shoot during pick and place games

• Scissor lift

• Pick up flat objects at a steep angle

• Ramp bot (we expirenced this in 2018, in the end we removed our ramps and won the comp)

Materials

• 25 x 25 SHS & 25 x 50 RHS

  • 1.6 or 3mm

• 25 x 25 angle

  • 1.6 or 3mm

• Aluminum sheet metal

  • 3 or 5mm

• 3mm Polycarb

• Corflute

• 1/2 in hex shaft

• Circlips

3D Printing

• Filament

  • PLA+, PETG

• Don’t

  • Print anything structural

  • Print hex bores

  • Print gears

  • Large objects

  • Full mechanisms

• Do

  • Print spacers

  • Anti-crush blocks

  • Print RSL mounts

Bumpers

• Removable bumpers

• Corner mounting (One of our students made quite a good system last year, I think it was inspired by 8177 Vector)

• Good quality plywood

• Solid core noodles

• Cricut numbers

  • Put on before making bumpers

Handles

• Give handles space for hands

• Solid handles

Electrical

• Battery → Mount flat

• Create standard for battery lead direction

• Breaker - Never use optifuse

• XT60’s for power

• MT60’s for brushless

• Always solder CAN

• Test ethernet cables

• Mount radio landscape

  • Above bumper + 150 mm away from motors

• Hot glue ports (after inspection)

• Sensors

  • Encoders on gear bores

  • Sensors in home positions

  • Game piece detection

Power Transmission

• High speed → pulleys

• High torque → Chain

• Bearing for all fast motion

  • Launchers, intakes

• Bushings for slow motion is ok

  • Arms, wrists, pivots

Programming

• Set points

• Xbox controllers

• Github

• Vision

• Remove control from driver to give control to robot

Things to consider

• Starting config

• Electrical layout

• Custom driver station?

Aesthetics

• Primary → Pink

  • Powder coat/vinyl

• Secondary → Black

  • Vinyl only

• LED’s must also serve a purpose

• Sponsor panel