Gimbal Modifications, Make New Chassis, Tread Lengthening, Old Chassis/Nerf Gun Disassembly - Matt/Mike/Patrick

Friday 3/14

Matt mounted the gimbal to Shela and tested it.  He noticed it had too much give and swayed as well.  To account for this he completely redesigned and remade the gimbal.  He geared it down to reduce/eliminate the sway.  Matt then attached the new gimbal and retested Shela.  He also took off the parts for locomotion (to be remounted later).

I, Patrick, decided to make the new chassis bottom the same length as the new side rails, 31 3/8" so they would be flush.  The shelf is 11" wide and the side rails are 1/4".  Th new chassis is 31 3/8" long  x 11 1/2" wide.  I started to cut the shelf that we will use as our new chassis bottom.  Once the shelf was cut and filed down (to reduce risk of cuts), I drilled holes in the shelf so it would be held in place by more than just friction.  I also drilled holes for potential motor mounts positions.  With feedback from Dr. B, I realized the current mounts would not be strong  or rigid enough.  To account for this, Dr. B and I tried to think of ways to reinforce, modify, or create the current mounts or new ones.  One possibility was to cut some robot arms and make holes for the motors.

Mike finished cutting the shelf to the proper length.  He then helped Matt and Patrick take the motors, cogs, mounts, and treads off so they could be mounted on the new chassis.  Since the new chassis is longer than the current one, Mike lengthened the tank treads so we could keep our current layout of them (angled front cogs).  Outside of class, he disassembled the new nerf gun (auto Tommy 20) to get an idea of how it works and research possible modifications.

Gimbal Modification

Mounted Gimbal

New Basic Chassis (Its Rigid Compared to Old Chassis)