Drive Base
Maneuverable swerve drive with MK4i modules enable top speeds of 17.1 ft/sec. Low center of gravity from 3/16" 1008 Steel that prevents flipping during high acceleration.
2024 | FIRST Robotics Competition
Serrano is our team's competition robot for the 2024 FIRST Robotics Competition Game, CRESCENDO. The first iteration was designed within the first 2 weeks of build season, with an overhaul of the intake and flywheels after our first competition. In over 10 years of our team's history, this has been the most successful robot built.
ROLE
VP of Mechanical Design
TOOLS
TEAM
Anthon B.
Pihu C.
Dhruv C.
Nripesh K.
Tejas M.
Technical Binder
V1 Onshape CAD
V2 Onshape CAD
Challenge Overview
In just six weeks, our team ideated, designed, manufacture, wired, and coded a robust competition-ready robot. This year's challenge featured 14" foam game pieces that scored points in various parts of the field. Extensive rules and constraints are provided in the game manual.
The Mechanical Design subteam is responsible for transforming whiteboard sketches into a complete 3D CAD model of the robot with high-quality drawings and instructions for assembly. With an early competition date, this process had to be completed within the second week of build season.
Planning
In CAD, the equivalence of "measure twice, cut once" is solidifying a robot architecture as the framework for the robot. Upon prioritizing and setting goals for the season, the layouts reflect that feasibility and limitations within our team. Given our limited experience, we wanted to design a simple 1-2 DOF robot that could pick notes up from the ground and score them in the main scoring area.
The chosen archetype utilized a single DOF: a rotation arm that enabled ground intake and variable shooter angles. Through prototyping with plywood concurrently, we settled on using dual sets of horizontal shooter flywheels with high grip and compression to control the note during launch.
Highlights
Gearbox
High torque from 4 Falcon 500 motors at a 130:1 reduction enable fast 310 degree/sec rotational speed with high precision.
Arm
Rigid and sturdy under high-torque application or collision with ability to quickly mount on intake for iteration and pit changes if needed.
Intake
Wide roller wheels touch and control notes with 26.2 ft/sec linear speed and 2" compliant wheels.
V1 | Horizontal Shooter
Detect notes through a light sensor and accurately launches notes with 4" Solid Urethane Wheel driven by Kraken X60 motors at a 1 : 1.33 Step-Up.
V2 | Vertical Shooters
Redesign following first competition to reduce mechanical discrepancies and increase output velocities.
Results
At the end of the season, Serrano finished 20-12 with an EPA in the top 13% of over 3000 global robots. Now entering retirement, Serrano is now inspiring future students having demoed at 10+ (and counting) outreach events.