Entry 12

Our goal for today is to build upon the finished robot chassis and determine our code to effectively and accurately shoot down the Power Shot targets.

• • The Hardware team establishes a foundation on which the intake system of the GoBilda robot design is based on and gathered parts needed for the system.

  • The programming team focuses on developing an autonomous program that makes the robot perform a specific degree turn to face the Power Shot targets.

The Hardware team defines the intake system by analyzing specific seconds in twitch videos of the GoBilda Robot Built in 3 days.

• Unfortunately, GoBilda takes down the long version of their video where they explaine their robot in depth but the team relies on these clips to get the job done.

  • • https://m.twitch.tv/gobildatv/clip/ApatheticVastDiscPastaThat

    • https://m.twitch.tv/gobildatv/clip/ShinySassyReubenFailFish

• We manage to gather the parts necessary for both the intake and shooting mechanisms.

• We also prepare for the arrival of the bumpers from the specialty robot design team that are necessary to protect the Mecanum wheels.

The programming team uses the Road Runner to help the robot execute complex movements autonomously and we also plan to incorporate the IMU into the code to determine the angles needed.

• • Our goal is to make the code easier to understand on Android Studio and correct all errors. In addition, we plan on conducting some more research on old and new techniques that would be beneficial to our current code. Furthermore, we plan on altering the code to perform other tasks based on the situation called for to score points on the playing field.

Today, we finish the adjustments on the gears. They are now properly attached on the axle.

• • Vanisha adds two channels to the chassis so the specialty parts design team can later upload bumpers to protect the wheels.

    • • We are currently working on a design inspired by the GoBilda Robot in 3 days idea. Benjamin, Yuga, and Astrid work on finding parts resembling those from the GoBilda video.

        • • Yuga manages to find wheels that resembled those in the front line of the intake system. Through further research, we find out that they were called Rhino Wheels.

            • • The GoBilda intake system uses Gecko Wheels which are thicker and have less of an indent. OnShape doesn't have Gecko Wheels in their GoBilda folder. Instead, we are using Rhino Wheels.

Today’s session runs smoothly; we come across very few issues.

• • We spend more time than expected finding what parts we needed to build the intake and shooter mechanisms.

    • • Since the pictures on the twitch streams are small when we tried to zoom in to see the parts, it is difficult to determine what we are looking at, especially for the inexperienced members who aren't aware of all the parts that GoBilda offers.

        • • Searching for parts on OnShape also eat away at our time because certain parts aren't there. For example, we have to use Rhino Wheels instead of Gecko Wheels. Another issue is the abundance of parts in the GoBilda folder. Having a wide selection is helpful but becomes a burden when trying to narrow down sizes from a blurry photo. "Some were too small, some were too big and sometimes none were just right."

Next meeting, we plan on adding the remaining screws to the channels on the sides of the chassis. We will also further inspect the twitch videos to get a better understanding of how certain parts interact, and what the parts that are essential to the design are. One of the hardest parts is approximating size, but now that we have a Rhino Wheel of a size we are confident will work, we can compare all the other parts of the system to the wheel to get an approximate size.

Our goal for today is to make a sample code using RoadRunner and the IMU

• • Using the IMU, we can find the angle the robot needs to turn in order to face the direction of a Power Shot target.

    • • We would then tell the RoadRunner the angle at which the Power Shot is located and the RoadRunner would turn to face the Power Shot to perform the task.

• While working on the program, we develop the fundamental idea for making the robot turn the correct angle. However, we determine that this method wouldn't be able to operate effectively from anywhere on the playing field.

  • • The program is supposed to gather data based on what direction the robot is facing at the start and where it needs to be facing. Based on that information it should turn the robot from anywhere on the playing field. As opposed to just telling the robot where it should go and how much it should turn based on every single different Power Shot target.

  • We are able to understand the part of the equation needed to turn the robot , but we are still working on implementing it into our code and mastering its use.

    • • The robot wouldn't turn with only the RoadRunner because the IMU is essential for making the calculations necessary to adjust the robots direction and angle relative to the Power Shot target.

• In the future, we would like to make additions that would help accomplish the task without the issues we ran into using Android Studio. We would have to make some adjustments for the code to be easier to comprehend and work with.

• Furthermore, researching about new and old techniques and implementing them into the program would improve its accuracy and overall function. Our plans today work smoothly. We plan to improve and build upon the code in the future.

  • • Currently, our program is only meant to determine specific crucial angles. We would like to add modifications in the future in order for it to accomplish more tasks.