Free Build #2

Well for this build our robot is doing rather well. Our group has finished building and everything looks like it will do good in the competition. Since our group finished second in the relay build, we were given a jumper another controler and a cord to connect our controllers together. So since we had this we decided to take advantage of that and build two robots. Our budget is perfectly fine. We have plenty of money left and haven't really had too buy that much. Well there was really only one major problem and that was working on the gearig for the second robot. After messing around with it, we got it so we didn't have to buy more wheels and didn't have to buy more gears. 

Our group is working together great I guess. In the group Dillon and I are the main builders while Josh and Lance help with smaller things. Over all everything has turned out fine. Our robot has been built and things are looking good. 

Relay Build

Well I found out that I and my group work decently under pressure. We never really had to rethink about how our group works because we already divided the work and worked like that. The only difference was we had to copy what was already made and we didn't have instructions nor could we go on our own.  When looking at problems like this it is important to stay calm and work together. Even if only one person could work on the robot at a time, you still have to stay as a group and work together on what is needed to succeed. I think my group did fine and I wouldn't do anything differently than we already did. 

 On the second day we got to work with   partners and it made things easier faster and more efficient. More people could be working at the same time even if they were working on different things or we're working on the same things. I still prefer working with partners since it was better and made things much more efficient. 

Free. Build

For the free build, our group used the 5 wheel omni drive. Advantages to this was that it was faster and could move well and if you could control it well, it was very  controlled and easy to keep in a straight line. Disadvantages this were that it was harder to learn how to control and was harder to build. If we had the chance to start over, we wouldn't really change anything and I wouldn't copy any other group. 

Drive Trains

  One drive train is the tank direct. This is where the motors are hooked directly to the wheels. An advantage to this is that it is easy to make and has rather simple wiring. A disadvantage for this system though is that the wheel is only controlled by the motor so it has less control. It can be somewhat controlled speed wise but not very much, it's mostly straight as fast it can go. Also another disadvantage to this drive system would be that the robot stutters and doesn't have smooth turning. This leads to less control. 

  Another drive train is the geared tank drive. A positive for this drive train is that it uses less motors than a direct geared. Another advantage is that it can have more speed or more power than a direct drive. The problem with that thoug is that if you have more power then it will have less speed or if it has more speed then it will have less power. Another disadvantage is that it is more complicated to set up and this could lead to having problems with getting the directions of the robot right. The geared drive still does stutter and shake like the direct and if you have more gears the robot will be larger and weigh more. 

   Another type of drive train is the holonomic system. This drive train uses four omni wheels and has them positioned at the corners of the robot in a 45 degree angle.  A disadvantage to this drive train is that each wheel must be driven independently. A positive for this robot though is that it is agile and can move around/turn easier. Another disadvantage for this robotic drive train is that it is very complicated to set up and to drive well.  Also a problem for this robot is that it has no potential for any high pushing force. 

Robot race changes

I wouldn't really have changed anything. Our group used the 5 omni wheel drive system and it worked very well for the most part. We had very good runs for the most part. The only real problem our group had was finding out one of our motors was stripped. After we found out that it was stripped we replaced it and everything worked fine. Plus with the five omnis t was pretty cool to see the thing driving sideways on the course.