White Papers
White Papers are instruction guides, information, manuals, that have been uploaded to the ChiefDelphi.com website. Currently, 28 files have been posted by team members from Indiana. You can find short descriptions and links here, but more information is available on Chief Delphi.
Technical
2005 Channel Selection Whitepaper
Josh Hambright, Team 461
Due to some recent confusion on how to change the channels on the OI for practice situations, I put together this quick whitepaper that hopefully explains everything.
Controlling Pneumatics - Sketch
Chris Fultz, Team 234
Power Point Slide from our team CDR (Critical Design Review) that shows pneumatic circuit and solenoid switching to allow variable point positioning of the circuit.
TechnoKat Trick Wheel
Andy Baker, Team 45
Here is an entire print package for what we TechnoKats call a “trick wheel”. We don’t claim to have the very first one of these, but we did have a version of this wheel on our 1998 robot. Mark Koors, TechnoKat engineer extra-ordinare, is the idea-man and designer of these wheels (he is also the guy behind the TechnoKat “ball drive” ).
There are complete prints in here to make omni-wheels which are about 7.7″ in diameter.
2 speed, Shift-on-the-Fly TechnoKat Gearbox
Andy Baker, Team 45
This is the 2 speed shifter we TechnoKats used in 2003.
Contents include:
… Background
… Overview
… Assembly pictures
… Fabrication tips
… Assembly tips
… Performance & Specifications
… Appreciation, Request & Challenge
… Assembly Drawings
… Detailed Drawings
6 Motor Drive Assembly w/ Pneumatic Shifting of 4:1 Gearbox
Andy Baker, Team 45
This white paper describes the 6 motor drive system which was used on the 2002 TechnoKats’ robot, the TechnoTank.
This large .pdf file totals 39 pages.
The contents include these pages:
Background
Overview
Assembly Pictures
Fabrication Tips
Assembly Tips
Performance & Specifications
Bill of Material
Assembly Prints (4)
Part Prints (27)
Dual Motor Gear Switching Assy
TechnoKats 45
Gear Switching and Motor Mount Design
Andy Baker, Team 45
This design was used in 2000. It includes a drill motor and the drill motor gearbox. It uses a servo to switch the gearbox from low to high gear. Even without the servo, this design mounts the drill motor securely and simply.
Programming
2003 Automated Dead Reckoning Test Code
Greg McCoy, 45
This drive code is intended for less experienced programmers to get a place to start with the code and start testing on existing robots. This code is based on the old Default code, so it works on all controllers, but will need to be updated or modified to work as competition code. The numbers used to determine distance will change for your robot, so you will have to do some tweaking here. All of this is documented fairly well in the program text. Plug joysticks into ports 1 and 3 on the OI, plug the drive Victors into PWM 1 and PWM 2, and you’re set to go! Use the throttle wheel on port 3 to control automatic code on or off.
Auto-Balance Gyro Code
TechnoKats 45
Code the TechnoKats use for auto-balancing.
Continuous Improvement - 2005 Championship Forum Presp
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This file is the material on Continuous Improvement from the 2005 Championship Forums. The presentation was made by Matt Fultz and David Hoff.
The presentation highlights a few continuous improvement processes and then provides details and an example of the fishbone diagram method to determine root cause for a robotics team.
Sponsor Care Presentation
Chris Fultz, Team 234
Attached file is a copy of the presentation by Matt Fultz and David Hoff at the 2005 Championship Forums. The presentation covers some basics about why different types of sponsors sponsor teams and how you can acknowledge and thank them for their support.
FIPs - History and Future
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This is a brief summary of how Team 234 started FIPs (FIRST International Partners), how the process works, and some goals for the future.
Continuous Improvement Process for FIRST Teams
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This paper provides information on a process for evaluating team / robot performance and determining corrective actions to improve that performance. The process outlined uses the Ishikawa, or Fishbone, diagram to identify factors causing undesired results. This process is widely used in industry and is often part of a Six-Sigma program.
By following this process, teams can implement corrective actions that will avoid repeating mistakes and hopefully improve their performance.
This process can apply to robot design, robot performance, fund-raising, sponsor recruitment - just about anything a FIRST team does during the season.
CyberBlue 234 Design Review Process 2004
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This is a Power Point presentation of the Design Review process developed by Cyber Blue 234. It is modeled after processes used by our major sponsors. This process was used for the 2004 season and is posted here for any team to adapt or adopt for their program.
Continuing the Cycle: A Guide to Starting a University-Supported FIRST Team
Shannon Schnepp, Alumna, Team 461
Four years ago, Westside Boiler Invasion was started by students who were on FIRST teams in high school. We have developed into a strong team and have discovered how awesome starting a team is. Because of this, it has become part of team 461’s mission to help start other college-supported FIRST teams around the country. We wanted to provide you with some documentation and advice and we hope you find it helpful. FIRST is a great program and it is up to us who have been through it to continue the cycle as we move on from high school.
This paper outlines the process used by Westside Boiler Invasion (#461) to start our Purdue University-supported team. It also contains supplemental documents such as team organization, budget, timelines, and proposals. These suggestions may not work at every college, but we hope that it is a good outline for you. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to let us know. This is a living document and will be continually updated, so look for revisions.
If you have any questions or comments please email us at FIRST@ecn.purdue.edu.
Duct Tape Use #1824829: Fundraising
Brandon Mensing, Alumni, Teams 71 and 1020
The basic idea is that you sell duct tape to students and they get to tape their teachers to a wall. I’ve alluded to this fundraising idea a few times and explained it in basic detail. I just decided I have enough time now to make a real full tutorial on it. It includes everything you need to know along with sample flyers, pictures, etc. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
TechnoKats Handbook
TechnoKats 45
TechnoKats (#45) Handbook for the 2001-2002 Season
Chairman’s Award
Team 234 - Cyber Blue - 2005 Chairman’s Entry
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This is Team 234’s Chairman’s entry for 2005. We submitted at the Central Florida Regional.
Team 234 Cyber Blue Chairman’s Submittal 2004
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This is the 2004 Chairman’s submittal paper for Team 234 “Cyber Blue”.
Miscellaneous
2005 IRI Scholarship Info in .pdf Format
Chris Fultz, Team 234
2005 IRI scholarship information in a .pdf format.
2005 IRI Information in .pdf Format
Chris Fultz, Team 234
2005 IRI file in .pdf Format.
2005 IRI - Everything You Need to Know (or at least most of it)
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This document describes the 2005 Indiana Robotics Invitational - the event, the location, how to register, the scholarships, and just about anything else we can think of.
FIRST Sponsorship = Excellent Corporate Strategy
Chris Fultz, Team 234
Rolls-Royce is active in several programs to identify, recruit and develop young people for careers in engineering and technology careers.
These programs include FIRST, a High School Senior Internship Program, Co-Op programs, special classes and Engineering Camp Scholarships.
The paper gives a general description of each of these programs and how they all work together to help develop the engineers of tomorrow.
This information may be used and shared to develop similar programs within your sponsoring companes, school or community.
IndianaFIRST 2004-2005 Calendar
David Hoff, Team 234
A few students from CyberBlue 234 have made a 12 month calendar which includes a picture of each robot and information on all 20 IndianaFIRST teams.
Indiana Robotics Invitational 2004 - Supplement 2
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This is the 2nd supplement to the 2004 IRI information document.
This supplement includes the application details for the 2nd IRI scholarship. This scholarship is only open to teams 45, 234 and 393 members. (Scholarship 1 is open to everyone except these 3 teams.)
Indiana Robotics Invitational 2004 - Supplement 1
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This document adds more details about the 2004 IRI. Included is information about the Chairman’s Award, Website Award, IRI Scholarship and Hotels.
2004 IRI Descriptions and Details
Chris Fultz, Team 234
This file contains everything you need to know (or at least of lot of it) about the 2004 IRI.
Woodie Flowers entry for Andy Baker (2003)
D.J. Fluck, Teams 45 and 1646
Here is the entry that was submitted for Andy Baker for the Woodie Flowers Award. Congrats to Andy!