32896 Droid Squad | Behind the Bot | FTC DECODE Robot

[00:00:02][music] >> Hello everyone, reporting today for Fun Robotics Network, I'm Abhas [music] and with me today is team 32896 Droid Squad from Ohio. They have been absolutely incredible this season, one of the coolest triple shooter wide robots, really really unique architecture with a super fast ball pack, excellent software behind it. I can't wait to jump into all the design design decisions and how this robot turned out on this behind the bots.

[00:00:30]All right Droid Squad, so first question has to be about the triple shooter archetype in general. Is this something you decided from day one and if so, why?

[00:00:38]>> Uh so, one thing that factored in us choosing a three wide shooter is just to be different from all the other teams cuz our sister team Droid Bot Droids, they chose a turret route and so we didn't want to just copy them. So, we wanted to make a three wide shooter. But we also thought it could be more efficient cuz we can intake and shoot all three at the same time.

[00:00:58]>> Before we get to our next segment, we like to thank the following.

[00:01:02]FRC Teams managed store program is an easy and profitable way to fundraise for your team or off-season event. FRC Teams will handle everything from production, packaging, bulk or drop shipping, payment collection and accounting. Teams can set their own prices and FRC Teams will take care of the rest. Fill out a quote request or get more information when you schedule a callback at frcteams.com. [music] >> For sure. Let's jump into the drivetrain. I think this is one of the more under appreciated parts of the robot. You know, everyone can see the shooter, but I think the drivetrain isn't seen too well. Uh let's flip the robot up and then talk me through the packaging here. It's it's very interesting how close you have the mecanums. Uh why did you decide to package it like that? What were the challenges?

[00:01:41]>> All right, so one of the challenges we had to put our mecanum wheels like about halfway through the robot in order to fit the drivetrain up here because we didn't have it wide enough to put the the wheels up here. And so one challenge we faced is when we first built the robot, it was too top heavy so the wheels would the back wheels would lift off the ground. So, at the back we put in 4 lb of weights to keep it uh on the ground.

[00:02:03]>> Yeah, as far as dimensions go as a whole, what is the overall width of your robot and length?

[00:02:07]>> Yeah, it's about uh 17.9 by 17.9.

[00:02:11]>> So, yeah, you're right in the size domain.

[00:02:13]>> Uh talking about gear ratios for these motors here, I notice you're running that very small pinion to large gear that we've seen a lot of teams adopt this season. Was that from day one or did you change to that system?

[00:02:23]>> Uh yeah, that was about That was uh pretty close to day one. Uh we just We decided it would work pretty well, so that's what we did.

[00:02:31]>> And then where where can teams find like these this really really small motor pinion that you guys are using?

[00:02:36]>> Uh ServoCity, I believe.

[00:02:38]>> Yeah.

[00:02:40]>> Before we get to our next segment, we'd like to thank the following.

[00:02:44]Studica Robotics is inspiring teams to build better robots with their new array of FTC team options. Check out their updated bevel gears and Maverick hex shaft motors, planetary gearbox options, and 6-mm hex components and shafts for extreme power transmission. Go to studica.com/robots to learn more and apply for discounts.

[00:03:04]>> Talking a little bit about pathing with this drivetrain, uh you know, I feel like a lot of teams that are using pathing softwares, they have like pretty much the same drive base width and dimensions and everything. Were there any challenges as far as writing that software goes or tuning or anything that you guys had to overcome that you can tell teams about?

[00:03:23]>> Yeah, we actually made the center of our robot center of the drivetrain instead of the center of the robot the actual center of the robot, which was kind of challenging for Pedro pathing and autonomous because that our front of the robot stuck out more, but once we figured out all of our points, it it worked just the same.

[00:03:40]>> Okay, awesome. Yeah. And as as far as like using the odometry goes and everything like that, with with the with the drivetrain being like compressed and the weight balance issues that you guys have overcome, like good tracking all throughout the match, have you had to do any resetting?

[00:03:53]Talk about that.

[00:03:54]>> Um generally it is pretty accurate since we um do that towards the center of the robot, too. So, we uh that is accurate and we use that for almost everything. But if we do get hit and they come off the ground [music] or intake climbs up a wall, we'll go into a corner and we'll reset.

[00:04:14]>> Awesome. Let's let's talk about that intake now. You had You have this full-width intake. Uh walk me through it at a high level. The rollers you've chosen here and if they've changed throughout the season.

[00:04:23]>> Yeah, so um we have we spaced our Gecko wheels out so two and then one on the side so that we could get maximum reach on the artifact.

[00:04:31]And >> [music] >> um one thing when we're shooting the the the fly the intake also acts as a lift to get to the flywheels again. So, when we're intaking the flippers go up and it transfers the artifact to the to the intake again, which [music] then puts uh to the flywheel.

[00:04:48]>> Yeah. I think one thing is about like funneling. You know, we've seen teams that have uh just like the single-channel uh designs that they have to do like a ton of funneling.

[00:04:57]Obviously, that's a little bit different with you guys uh because you have that triple-wide intake. How have you done funneling in this robot and what advice do you have for teams?

[00:05:04]>> If you want to flip it.

[00:05:07]All right. So, when we do intake it, we can intake all three at the at simultaneously and each of these servos is on a separate flipper. So, that's what transfers it up here into the flywheel. And if we're [music] intaking from this side, the artifacts will go in, they'll go along this and then go over to the other side.

[00:05:24]>> Wow, so you can you can intake an artifact all the way on one side and it'll just go all the way over. That's that's really excellent. Do you Is there any like uh angled surface or something that pushes the artifact over? How does the artifact get pushed from one side to the other?

[00:05:37]>> Yeah, so we've kind of got this angled ball wall right here. So, when it's the intake is constantly running so the artifacts kind of just go over and then when another one comes it just kind of pushes it over. Awesome.

[00:05:48]>> And these support rails are high enough that the artifacts can freely pass between all three flippers.

[00:05:53]>> That makes a ton of sense. Now, one one advantage with that triple shooter is you can choose in what in which order you shoot those artifacts in. Is that sensorized [music] or do you guys have like color sensors or something for each of the artifacts or is that all just manual or is it very easy to do?

[00:06:06]>> Yeah, it's it's all manual. We have uh buttons on the secondary controller that individually control each flipper.

[00:06:11]>> Oh, okay. That's that's very cool. I want to talk now about the shooter itself. Uh how are you guys powering all your flywheels? Are they all powered by the same set of motors or individual motors?

[00:06:21]>> All right. So, each flywheel is belted to a different motor. We originally had all of them on the same shaft powered by and the shaft was powered by two motors, but we wanted to be able to shoot all three at the same time. So, then we individually belted each one to a different motor so they can go at the all go at the right speed.

[00:06:37]>> I see. I see. That that makes a ton of sense. As far as adding weight, uh you know, you guys are really shooting a lot from that far launch zone. We've seen teams have to add a lot of weight. Uh is that something you guys have also done?

[00:06:47]Have you needed to really increase that inertia of your flywheels or it's not a problem?

[00:06:51]>> It hasn't been a problem this season. We don't have any weights on our flywheels.

[00:06:54]>> Yeah, I guess I guess if you're only shooting one artifact at a time from each one, you don't need as much inertia. So, so that's pretty clever. I I now want to talk about the shooting algorithm itself. Uh what testing went into it? You know, shooting three artifacts at the same time requires a lot of consistency. So, if you guys could talk about some of the testing you guys have [music] done to make it as consistent as possible.

[00:07:14]>> So, at the start of the season, we knew that the goal was not very wide. So, we wanted to make sure all three artifacts could go in. So, we started with just two rails with no fill in right here.

[00:07:30]And we realized that holes were catching on this edge.

[00:07:34]So, we filled it in. Then it was still going out. So, we set it in the middle of the field and started shooting it onto our carpet and placing post-it notes to where it lands and then sanding different edges of our rails to make sure that they land as near as they could possibly get.

[00:07:52]>> Awesome. Yeah, talking also a little bit about the software behind the shooting.

[00:07:57]Uh, how are you guys deciding uh, like, you know, what RPM to shoot at? Is that all like database or what are you doing there?

[00:08:03]>> Yeah, so at the start of the season when we switched to the three one motor per flywheel, I did um, I shot from different points around the field [music] for each flywheel individually and I in a pro- I made a program that could set show me what RPM it is and I can make it go up and down and then I just put the robot on different points in the field and shot into it consistently made it and then [music] I put that into a graphing calculator which gave then gave me a linear equation which I put in my code and each flywheel [music] has an individual linear equation to make it the best that it can be.

[00:08:38]>> For sure. Another thing I've noticed is that you guys uh, tend to shoot like two artifacts at once and then pause for a fraction of a second and shoot the third artifact. Is that intentional and if so, why?

[00:08:48]>> Yeah, it is. So, at the start of the season we did shoot all three at the same time but then we figured out our right ball was missing a lot but we figured out that our middle ball was actually going to the right a little bit and hitting that artifact and make so then it would deflect out of the goal.

[00:09:05]So, then we So, now we delayed the middle ball so that it can it won't hit the middle and that made it a lot more consistent.

[00:09:12]>> Awesome. Yeah. Uh, last question has to be in regards to actually turning to face the goal. You know, that's something teams without a turret have to really, really nail down. How have you made that as consistent [music] and as fast as possible for your robot?

[00:09:24]>> Yeah, so we use our odometry to track our position on the field and we have the goals to goal position entered into our code and then we just press a button on the controller and it has a set angle it goes. It actually doesn't have a set angle. It has It aims towards the goal.

[00:09:40]So, if we [music] move from the goal all the way across the field, you'll see our angle towards the goal actually change.

[00:09:45]>> Awesome. Droid Squad, thank you guys so much. This has just been one of the coolest robots to watch on the field this season. I love seeing those triple shots all throughout, seeing how consistent they've been at MTI as well.

[00:09:55]So, thank you so much for this interview. Reporting for Fun Robotics Network, [music] I'm Amol Paus, and this is team 32896 Droid Squad. Thank you.

[00:10:03]>> Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and click the bell to stay up-to-date on future fun videos.

[00:10:09]Suduker Robotics is inspiring teams to build better robots with their new array of FTC team options. Check out their updated bevel gears and Maverick hex shaft motors, planter gearbox options, and 6 mm hex components and shafts for extreme power transmission. Go to sudoker.com/robots to learn more and apply for discounts.

[00:10:28]FRCT's manage store program is an easy and profitable way to fundraise for your team or off-season event. FRCT's will handle everything from production, packaging, bulk or drop shipping, >> [music] >> payment collection, and accounting.

[00:10:40]Teams can set their own prices, and FRCT's will take care of the rest. Fill out a quote request or get more information when [music] you schedule a callback at frcts.com.