INNOVATION

Battery Baskets

Automation Nation is an innovative team that is always looking for solutions to everyday problems. Most FRC teams struggle to remind students NOT to carry the battery by the leads. We have solved the problem with our battery baskets. They are no secret, and we will happily make some for you or share how you can make your own! Reach out to our coach if you'd like us to produce a set for you, or download the instructions here.

2960s Custom Swerve Wheel Solution

In 2022, one of our Juniors built a robot for Seaholm's Anything but a Backpack Day, the last school day of the year when students who no longer need backpacks are encouraged to bring anything but a backpack to school. Deskbot, our #2 Ambassador Robot, was born! In a sea of anything goes - kayaks, giant coolers, and ten-gallon hats - our student was driving a chair desk on a swerve chassis.

The bolt-on tread on the SDS modules he used caused damage to the school hallway floors and that caught the attention of the principal. Deskbot's march of vinyl tile destruction ended a bit early.

Enter one materials science mentor and no pre-conceived notions about how to do swerve!

The first prototype of 2960's custom swerve wheel and tyre program was born in 2023 from PETG and Smooth-On's Vitaflex 20, which had served the team well in the Grabber mechanism for Charged Up. A two-part mould and a two-part hub were designed and manufactured for Deskbot. Chaos no longer reigned, and the school maintenance staff celebrated. Deskbot was back in circulation and now pulling a robot caboose.

The large tread block design and low durometer polyurethane did not hold up very well, but the basic concept was very solid, and the students wanted to continue development for the Rev MaxSwerve module. The stock Rev black co-cast wheels had poor traction and poor lifetime and the students were convinced they could do better.

In 2024, the team tried out the Norris 3-D printed TPU tread option, but was dissatisfied with the very limited durability of the tread and the quick transition from traction to no traction. Building on the Norris concept, a TPU knobby tread was tried out, but traction was lacking both mechanically and chemically. The PETG hubs also began to fail under increased side loads and the team switched to PA6CF (carbon-fibre filled Nylon) printed on a MarkForged Onyx printer. The team competed on Norris tread for the season and studied material properties for future use.

2025 saw the most development of the system. The tyre tread pattern was further refined through prototyping and validation. A wavy tread was tested that was so tractive that it tore itself apart on driving. The team returned to a knobby design and matched the tread block size to the pitch of the carpet loops on the FRC competition field carpet. Smooth-On Vitaflex 60 was chosen as the polymer for the tyres for its mechanical properties. The combination of material and design provided the right level of mechanical and chemical grip to have excellent traction. The hub design was switched from a shallow 16-lug hub/tyre interface to a deep six-lug interface to reduce the tendency of the tyres to slip on the hubs. The tyres were moulded at 98% of CAD dimension to provide a snug fit on the hubs. The new moulds were three-piece to account for the gear recesses in the hubs. The hubs remained two-piece PA6CF. During prototyping, the programming team sent the robot forward at full send 24" from a dead stop on a polished concrete surface into our driver station and pushed the entire wall 18" into the field. This was deemed "sufficient traction" by the drive team.

The final 2025 version of the MaxSwerve design (V4) carried the team to the World Championship in Houston. The tyres performed well with an overall treadlife of 8 matches, with 10 being possible under lower loads. The team was notable for having both offensive and defensive motion capability in addition to scoring well. Along the way to Houston, four Rev MaxSwerve modules were fully mechanically failed, with destruction of the motor mounting plate (2) and motor shaft bending (2) being the mechanisms of failure. After discussion with other teams, notably the Robonauts team #118, 2960 determined that the actual cause of the failures was the high traction of the tyres - when the robot was hit, it stayed put, transferring all load to the swerve modules, instead of skating and absorbing the force of the hit with the bumpers and frame. The drive team remained very pleased with the traction and drivability of the robot.

In 2026, the team switched to the West Coast Products X2St swerve modules and a new 4"x2" hub and tire design quickly followed. The HDPE field elements led to a switch from Shore 60A hardness PU to Shore 45A hardness (Smooth-On Vytaflex 45), and the team is immovable in swerve X and can push up to two defending robots in a chain across the carpet. The team can also easily free beached robots from the area around the bump. Treadlife at the first competition was 12 matches.

INNOVATION

Battery Baskets

2960s Custom Swerve Wheel Solution

STLs Coming Soon