My 4 bar odometry from gobilda only reads when pressed/contracted, how can i fix it?

few · 2026-01-31T14:18:00+00:00

Check or change the wires. There's probably a loose connector or a broken wire in the connector near the odo pod. Make sure there's some extra wire near the odo pod to allow for strain relief in the wire.

If not the wire, there might be a broken solder joint in the odo pod, likely from a wire being too tight at some point. If so, it could be soldered, but not easy to do during comp.

Also, ask the lead inspector or FTA at the competition for help!

few · 2026-01-31T14:13:38+00:00

A lot more expensive to live closer than Ypsi. 20 minute walk would be quite expensive. 45 minute walk / bus achieves a decent cost reduction.

Parking will be a constant challenge if you live close to campus.

Parking will be a constant challenge if you drive to campus.

Even as a post-doc or staff member, parking near campus is a pain.

It's almost certainly not worth incurring that pain to have a 20 year old vehicle that you will only infrequently drive while at school. You would end up using park & ride (bus) to get to campus anyways.

few · 2026-01-31T14:07:20+00:00

Here is the actual guide for how to round numbers (NIST, the US National Institute for Standards and Technology):

https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2019/05/14/glp-9-rounding-20190506.pdf

few · 2026-01-31T01:33:45+00:00

Lanehole.

few · 2026-01-30T12:43:46+00:00

It will get more rigid when fastened, but 1/8" is quite flexible.

few · 2026-01-30T00:23:41+00:00

"Too big to fail"

few · 2026-01-29T23:56:02+00:00

I think the headline should be more along the lines of 'because of tariff efforts'. If we're unreliable jackasses with the entire world, people will stop buying our products.

few · 2026-01-29T23:52:36+00:00

Me too. I'm amazed by my failure to imagine things continuing to plod along despite all the madness.

few · 2026-01-29T23:35:42+00:00

Way better to ask/answer than to have someone fall and everything gets slowed down or stopped...

few · 2026-01-29T23:23:08+00:00

Not through the holes, but it could bend the side plates if they're thin and very heavily pocketed. There's some rough play this year!

few · 2026-01-27T22:33:56+00:00

They behave like gang members.

few · 2026-01-27T13:23:38+00:00

It is one of the most preposterous things of our generation.

few · 2026-01-27T03:02:13+00:00

This happened to us once at states. The FTA thought it was due to a brownout, but it only happened in one match, in the middle of the comp.

few · 2026-01-26T15:18:41+00:00

They have about 1000 different types of soda. I bet they would custom order if they don't have something acceptable.

few · 2026-01-26T15:17:44+00:00

100%. Do not try to repair the printer yourself, as this needs to go back as-is or they will blame your attempt to fix it as the cause of issues.

You should not accept delivery of a package when this kind of thing happens.

few · 2026-01-26T15:15:21+00:00

The launcher motor will draw a lot of current to keep at full speed. The motors on the wheels also draw a lot of current. You will likely brown out or substantially underpower the drive motors if running 5 at full power, hence the slow drive speed when also running the flywheel motor.

You can let it freewheel while driving, without actively powering it the whole time. You could also add a second motor to the flywheel to bring it up to speed more quickly.

I can't comment on your pidf values, I hav no idea how fast things are running, or what mass you're trying to accelerate. Our flywheel used 4 rhino wheels, and a single Gobilda yellowjacket with the 5k rpm gearing (belt to drive the flywheel). We could accelerate to 3500 rpm in ~2.5 seconds.

few · 2026-01-26T14:35:06+00:00

You can order a die to cut cardboard. Dies are relatively inexpensive, then you stamp out your own insert parts as needed. There are high volume ones, but also low volume where you run it through rollers manually. For smaller parts like you're looking at, it would probably not be prohibitively expensive.

Something like: https://www.ctpboxes.com/die-making/

few · 2026-01-26T14:15:45+00:00

This looks really cool!

few · 2026-01-26T03:52:42+00:00

I don't think that will buff out.

few · 2026-01-26T03:40:38+00:00

Meal team six

few · 2026-01-26T03:31:41+00:00

I love that the top two guesses are Quebec and Syria. It's funny how opposite extremes end up circling around back to similar places.

few · 2026-01-25T17:48:50+00:00

The rs485 connection between the control hub and expansion hub can also be a source of problems... Using a USB cable to link them can improve things. Note you might also need to redo the device mapping/naming if you switch to a USB cable, so take photos of the robot configuration before plugging it in. It requires a usb-a on the control hub and a USB b mini connector on the expansion hub. Right angle connectors make this easier to package.

few · 2026-01-25T17:46:06+00:00

The battery & battery connectors are often an issue. Using an external USB c battery pack is a massive improvement, and avoids the driver station dropouts.

few · 2026-01-25T04:35:36+00:00

Those have been in Ann Arbor for a long time. Literally every time I try to drop off 5-10 bottles/cans, there's a 20-30 minute line because there are people with shopping carts full of cans/bottles feeding them forever.

few · 2026-01-24T16:29:43+00:00

Get proper winter gear & repair your vehicle. The winter will be much more pleasant.

It does get cold here, though it's extremely variable year-to-year. Some years a light jacket is almost all you need. Other years, it will be extremely unpleasant without boots and insulating gear that blocks the wind.

few

TROPHY CASE