Independent Two Motor Tower, Storage for Two Balls

Github
Indexer.java Superstructure.java BallManager.java

In the initial brainstorming period of robot concepts and ball paths, some goals were set:

1. Reliably hold and store balls under robot movement and impacts
2. Accept balls from intake mechanism without jamming
3. Reliably and accurately feed balls into the shooter mechanism
4. Be modular and rapid to install/remove from the drivebase platform
   1. Integrate well with other robot mechanisms
5. Sense ball color and presence, and sequence accordingly using automated functions
6. Store the majority of the robot’s control system and electronics, and hide these to preserve aesthetics while retaining serviceability

Our tower design process closely followed that of our intake, because the indexing and ball path within the robot is greatly dependent on the intake concept. Before an intake concept was finalized, several ball indexing and sequencing.

Concept designs were brainstormed and designed, but two were heavily considered:

1. V-belt indexer + angled tower + full width OTB intake
2. Vertical tower + mecanum vectoring intake

After a cutout intake with vectoring capabilities was finalized, we quickly settled on the vertical tower design and started developing a design.

The final design is a 2-cell (where each ball sits in its own independently controlled segment of the tower) vertical system, featuring the following solutions to our initial goals.

1. Polycarbonate siding and fully enclosed belts with high compression keep balls in place
2. Entraption stars and a ramp reliably accept balls from intake
3. The top ball is held by infinity-belt-driven dual timing belts for rapid feeding into shooter
4. 2×1 aluminum superstructure mounts to drivebase in 4 places with open and accessible hardware
5. Color and beam-break sensors located inside the electronics area provide ball color and presence data, allowing for precise sequencing and wrong-color ball rejection
6. Polycarbonate siding allows for mounting for motor controllers, RoboRIO, PDH, radio, and VRM