Engineering Log · DECODE Season

Robots

Two machines, one countdown. Meet V1 Turbine and V2 Slipstream, the robots we built for the DECODE season.

Robot Turbine, a black and red FTC robot with 9876 on its side panels

V1 Turbine

Strengths

Proven
Reliable
Hard to push
Swerve drives identical in all directions

Turret Design

Adjustable hood
Two servos for precise aiming
Extra flywheel weight for inertia
Top roller to reduce back spin
Two motors powering

Close-up of the Turbine turret mechanism

Close-up of the Turbine turret from another angle

Passive Transfer Spindexer

We use our Spindexer for indexing the artifacts and sorting them within our robot. We analyzed the costs and benefits of the Spindexer, and decided it would be worth it to have sorting capabilities.

Vectoring Mecanum Intake

The intake has a vertical four bar with a set of compliant wheels and mecanums to pull the artifacts into the robot. After our League Tournament we improved our design because we struggled to get artifacts when it wasn’t against a wall.

Improved second version of the vectoring mecanum intake

Robot Slipstream, a red and black FTC robot with a lifting arm

V2 Slipstream

Strengths

Faster driving, transferring, and intaking
More power efficient
Tilt capabilities for base points
Wider turret rotation
Cheaper than V1 robot

Servo Tilt

Slipstream has a tilting feature that allows our robot to only take up around nine inches of the base, leaving our alliance enough space to get a full base.

Drive Base

Slipstream used a mecanum drive to keep the design simple and robust.

Close-up of the Slipstream transfer mechanism

Transport and Intake

When working on Slipstream we opted not to sort the artifacts to improve our cycle time. This new design has sets of rollers and tubing that pull the artifacts into the robot and store them. There is a servo beneath the turret that opens and closes the path of artifacts to control shooting.