Robot Design Concept

The general philosophy of this robot was to use a simpler design that the team was confident could be built and executed. Therefore, this robot did not set out to be able to score game objects in the Top Row of the Grid, but instead quickly and efficiently score in the Middle and Bottom Rows of the Grid. 

This robot utilized a swerve drivebase with Swerve X Modules from West Coast Products. The Swerve drivebase is the most maneuverable drivebase design and Team 4817 was confident in executing it as the team had experience with such modules. 

The robot uses a simple chain bar arm. A chain bar arm is the most compact form of a 4-bar arm and has the added benefit of being able to swing the arm over to the other side of the robot, (though Team 4817 rarely used this because of how much it increased the height of the center of mass of the robot). 

A multi tool roller claw was chosen as Cubes and Cones needed to be placed in nearly identical positions on the Grid. The multi tool roller claw was designed to use multiple wheels in different positions all driven together by belts. Some wheels were meant to grab onto Cubes and other wheels, spinning in the same direction, to grab onto Cones. 

Robot Design Learnings

The robot successfully did what it set out to do. Team 4817 was able to make it the playoffs of the regionals it attended, but did not get very far along the elimination bracket. 

What Worked Well

Team 4817 built a robot that performed as was predicted. The team did not try to build too complicated of a robot given the team's limitation at the time. It is better to go to a regional with a functional limited robot, than to sit at the sidelines with a theoretically strong robot that could not be built in time.

What Could Be Improved

However, the fact Team 4817 did not make as advanced of a robot design as it possibly could really limited how far the team could get in the competition. The robot could not score in the Top Row of the Grid which really limited how much the team could contribute to an alliance. It was decided that the team would focus on developing a rigorous off-season to better prepare for the following year's competition.

Charged Up Robot Comparisons

To see the theoretical design Team 4817 created during the competition season and what could have been, refer to Ref 32. To see a tested, full featured robot design, refer to Ref 33.