2018 FTC Summer Chassis Study Project

The purpose of this summer chassis study is to develop and test different drivetrain chassis to gain a deeper understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of different chassis designs to aid the future construction of chassis for the next FTC seasons. The chassis being tested are split into two distinct categories, simple and advanced. The simple chassis category has more rigorous requirements such as the specific Neverest 40 motors and 4-inch wheels so that they can be analyzed and compared to each other. Most chassis are in this category. Advanced chassis category features one or more unique features such as suspension, 6-inch or larger Mecanum wheels, etc. They will be analyzed based on their own merits for suiting the next season’s challenge rather than comparing against other chassis.

The following will be tested:

  1. Moving forward speed test (5 second)
  2. Three second turn test
  3. Driving up/down a ramp test
  4. Balance stone balancing ability
  5. Pull test (10 ft, up to 40 lb)
  6. Straight line drift test (autonomous)
  7. 90/180 degree turn offset (autonomous)
  8. Other tests (chassis specific test)

The tests will be done with different amounts of load on the chassis to simulate a heavier robot: 0 lb, 15 lb, and 30 lb. We will determine which robot performs the best on each of the different skills needed for future game challenges.  We plan to share our study results with local FTC teams at upcoming workshop on 9/3/2018. We hope these tests will help the FIRST Tech Challenge community in designing their robot for next year’s challenge.

Participating FTC teams: 8565, 6832, 8114, 12764, 12900

In this study, we will be using the robotics parts from the following vendors:

  • Tetrix
  • Actobobbtics
  • REV Robotics
  • Modern Robotics
  • Andy Mark
  • VEX pro
  • Custom parts from HomeDepot

We are looking for the vendors to provide any kind of support such as tech tips, product giveaways for the drawing of FTC workshop participant teams and etc.

Current Sponsors:

Image result for Andymark

Project plan and milestones:

kickoff meeting: 5/28/2018, 10am-11:30am, QD Academy

Milestones:

  • Decide on the chassis to study
  • Agree on the tests to be performed
  • Plan out all summer meeting time and locations
  • Shared resource setup: joint engineering notebook, Github repository and GrabCAD workspace

June meeting: 6/9/2018 2-5pm, Vanston Middle School

Milestones:

  • Finalize test specs
  • Working session to finish chassis CAD models

July meeting: 7/22/2018 2-5pm, Dallas Big Thought Non-Profit Organization

Milestones:

  • All chassis built and configured
  • Verify test code during meeting

August meeting: 8/11/2018 2-5pm, QD Academy

Milestones:

  • Finish Official Testing
  • Review and Analyze Test Results
  • Draw Conclusions
  • Prepare for Workshop

FTC Workshop: 9/3/2018 9am-4pm, Schimelpfenig Middle School (click here to register)

Milestones:

  • Complete all chassis test and prepared the results in presentation together with all things learnt from the project
  • Invite teams for sharing lessons learnt from last season
  • Invite last year’s rookie teams to be panelist for the panel discussion
  • PTC modeling workshop
  • CAD modeling tips/tricks
  • Live showcase of various chassis studied during summer