Note Viewer

We figured out that we could prevent the bumper from hitting the ground too much by getting the wheels closer to the bumpers. We also decided to go with four 6 inch wheels rather than three 8 inch wheels. The reason for this is that with the 8 inch wheels, the side extrusion would have to be longer, cutting down on the length of the front of the robot, which is not ideal. Using the 6 inch wheels also minimizes spaces where the robot could be caught on the platform.

Next, we started to look at the geometry for the four 6 inch wheels drive train when driving off the platform. To accomplish this, we sketched a side view of the drive train and the platform with dimensions on SolidWorks and tested multiple situations to see if the bumpers would hit the floor. We found that the front bumper would only hit the floor very slightly in a worst-case scenario (where the robot is moving extremely slow off the platform), which showed that the drivetrain design of four 6 inch wheels would be successful.

We then decided whether we wanted to have offset center wheels for turning in comparison to omni wheels. We decided to go with two center wheels with an offset of 1/8 inch down for turning rather than an omni wheel per side. This meant that we would have 4 tank wheels per side with a 1/8 inch offset for the 2 center wheels. We decided on this because we thought tank wheels would be better for impact than omnis when driving off the platform. 

We were able to complete the CAD for the side extrusion. (The file is uploaded on GrabCad)

We had no challenges other than some small technical problems such as errors in SolidWorks or the internet not connecting. 

For the next meeting, we need to keep working on the CAD. Specifically, the next step would be to work on the front extrusion to finish the frame of the drivetrain. If the frame of the drivetrain is finished, then other components of the drivetrain should be CADed and added on. 

Yes