MASSIVE-ANT: Cog Realignment, Shela 2.0 Basic Testing, Gimbal Mount, Spacers Drilled, New Idler Mounts, Brains Cover, Etc.

Friday 4/11

Matt was finally able to test Shela. He made basic temporary mounts for the brains and batteries using zip ties. After he and Patrick tested Shela a few times, a problem started to become apparent. The spacers were tightening up against the cogs; this made the cogs unable to free spin. To fix this, Patrick drilled bigger holes in the spacers. This lessened the issue but the cogs still weren't spinning very well. This is because the cogs weren't flush with each other. Since earlier versions of Shela were able to mount curbs and steps, we tried to make Shela 2.0 do the same. Although we never tried the steps inside Eberly, we had to due to rain. Unfortunately the robot was not able to climb the stairs. It was however able to descend stairs and mount false curbs (screw, nut, & bolt boxes).

Before we made the holes bigger, Mike drilled holes in 3/8" spacers (using two 3/8" instead of one 1/2" and one 3/8") to make the cogs flush with each other. Mike then started to come up with ideas on how and where to mount the brains, Sabertooth, laptop and battery. The battery will be towards the front, the brains and Sabertooth will be placed on top of the laptop, and the laptop will sit behind the battery. Mike also made the back plate that will be the stationary part of the hinged brains cover.

Once we realized the spacers needed to have bigger holes in them, I, Patrick, drilled 17/64" holes in the 3/8" spacers. To fix the spacer tightening issue even more, I decided to use one 3/8" spacer and a nut on each side of the side rails. I then mounted the gimbal after modifying its platform to fit on the new chassis. After we determined the platform wasn't very sturdy, I decided to use the remaining part of the shelf as the platform; Dr. B used the grinding wheel to get rid of burrs.