#import "/packages.typ": notebookinator
#import notebookinator: *
#import themes.radial.components: *

#show: create-body-entry.with(
  title: "Post Reveal Thoughts",
  type: "brainstorm",
  date: datetime(year: 2023, month: 4, day: 27),
  author: "<NAME>",
  witness: "Violet Ridge",
)

After the game reveal each member of the team independently wrote down their
thoughts on what the coming season will look like, and ideas for our robot.\
\
#admonition(
  type: "note",
  [
    These were recorded before the rules were released, so they are made without key
    information, like expansion limits, or how the autonomous win point will be
    scored.
  ],
)

= Felix

== Scoring Mechanisms

My first thought for a mechanism to move the triballs is something similar to
the bots we see for FRC's #footnote("See glossary") Charged Up. A long arm with
flex wheels that spin to grab the triballs. The climbing mechanism is much more
difficult. The real question is whether we use the same mechanism as the triball
collector for this, and whether that's feasible to build. The hardest part to me
seems like getting a consistent hold on the PVC pipe. It is very inconvenient
that the pole is vertical, which will make it very hard to maintain a grip.

== Drivetrain

Our drivetrain is the core of our robot, and is easily the most important part
to get right. Due to the lack of heavy objects, torque is much less important
than speed. We can use a similar gear ratio to our robot during the Spin Up
Season, or maybe even higher. The real question is whether we can get a six
motor drive. If we can get the triball grabbing and bot lifting on two motors
that would be amazing, but I'm not sure if it's possible.

The weight of the drive (and the bot overall) is also very important. If we were
considering a steel drivetrain before, we certainly should not be now. We need
to be as light as possible to make lifting our robot as easy as possible.

The ability of our bot to cross the middle line is also very important due to
the ramification of having a bot of our alliance on our side of the field. If we
can quickly switch sides, it will mean that we can quickly shut down our
opponents defense without even interacting with their robot.

== Programming

As always, consistent chassis movement is the key to a perfect autonomous. Using
an absolute positioning system like GPS or Odometry #footnote(<nb_gl>) can make
this much easier, because it allows the robot to correct for past error, or even
external interference. There are also many different motion control algorithms
we can use, like PID #footnote(<nb_gl>) and/or motion profiling. Overall,
tracking wheels and an IMU will be a must, but these sensors might have some
difficulty when we cross the center line, due to the bot leaving the ground. In
addition, if our robot is high off the ground, we may have some trouble getting
the tracking wheels to touch the ground.

= John

I think that the best intake for this season would easily be one with horizontal
flex wheels. This would allow the bot to reach under the goal easier and also
could be easier to build. We will most definitely need a shooting mechanism (a
catapult would work best, and we have more experience with such building). We
will also need some sort of scissor lift to lift the bot. All of these systems
will require a motor, so we will need a four motor drive. This means that we can
spare a motor on the claw for lifting the bot. We will want a fast drive with
the center locked omni.

= Alan

At first I was very surprised by this game as it seemed that the results of a
match would be decided in the first few seconds. However, upon further review I
noticed the heavily weighted importance on match loads (22 match loads with only
12 game pieces on the field). This makes an intake that is able to get match
loads necessary. I also began thinking of ways to climb the pole, as that makes
up a big amount of points. My initial idea is a claw with two flex wheels on the
inside, so the claw could clamp on to the pole and the wheels could rotate and
drag the robot upwards. A lot of torque will be necessary but it may be doable.

= Meghana

#admonition(
  type: "note",
  [
    Meghana joined the team after the season started, so her thoughts may be
    influenced by the ideas of other teammates.
  ],
)

After watching the video, I believe that we could create a strong claw mechanism
which can grip the pole firmly, as it gets the most amount of points. It should
be able to hold the weight as well. For the robots, they should be faster in
speed but have flexible and firm wheels which can improve the accuracy of
movements. Autonomous points and the winner of the autonomous period is a large
head start in the game and would also be helped by the wheels and speed.
