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Robonauts' 2024 Everybot



The Robonauts’ Everybot is an affordable, competitive, and elegant robot that can be built using basic tools and items found in the Kit of Parts, common FRC suppliers, or your local hardware store. The 2024 Everybot is based on the FIRST KitBot and offers a clear and simple upgrade path. The mechanisms can be built and installed independently and can also be incorporated into different robot designs. The 2024 Everybot costs around 900 U.S. dollars when built from the KitBot and Rookie Kit of Parts and weighs approximately 110lbs when complete.



The 2024 Everybot adds functionality to FIRST’s KitBot by adding an Amp and Climbing mechanism.

Roller Claw​




The roller claw reliably picks up Notes from the Source and drops them into the Amp. The wheels are spun towards the inside of the claw when intaking from the Sources and spun away from the claw when scoring in the Amp. The Note is tightly held by the complaint wheels with the deflection plate and fiberglass rod preventing the Note from pivoting below the scoring position. The wheels can be run passively inward at low power (>10%) if your claw is losing control of game pieces while the robot is in motion.


The roller claw consists of 3 polycarbonate parts that can be bought from AndyMark, a motor and gearbox, two pulleys with a belt running between them, a short section of 1/2” hex shaft with compliant wheels, spacers, bearings, and shaft collars, and a fiberglass rod to hold the Note at a downward angle to make scoring in the Amp easy.


Climber​


The Everybot climber uses a vertical box tube and PVC pipe telescoping system to lift a hook up to the Stage chain. The inner slider is pulled upward by extension springs routed around the top of the robot by paracord and downward by a ratchet strap and winch that bear the robot’s weight when climbing. The height restrictions of this year’s game allow for the climber to start the match already extended upwards and remain that way for the entire match until the robot goes to hang at the end of the match, where the winch winds the ratchet strap up and pulls the hook down (and itself up). The spring pulls the hook back up when the winch unwinds, allowing the robot to retry a missed climb. The climber does require ballast or the weight at the front of the robot will cause the bumpers to touch the ground when the climber is fully pulled in. It is recommended that you generally leave the climber extended so the spring does not wear out over time.

KitBot’s Launcher​



The Everybot is built around the 2024 FIRST KitBot and incorporates its Speaker launcher into the design. The Launcher consists of a superstructure, two wheels powered by CIMs, some launcher panels, and a compression beam.


The superstructure supports the launcher and needs to be at the correct height and angle to properly intake and launch Notes. The roller claw mounts in place of the FIRST-provided bracket in the upper right corner, and the superstructure also needs to be built correctly for the roller claw to function correctly.



The two wheels move and launch the Note inside the launcher. When intaking from the Source, both wheels are run inwards so the Note ends up resting against the crossmember of the angled portion of the superstructure and still in contact with the lower “feeder” wheel.



When launching, the upper “launch” wheel needs to spin up for around 1 second to reach top speed in order to be able to properly launch the Note. Once the launch wheel is spun up the feeder wheel feeds the Note up to the launcher wheel, which propels it outward using the built-up speed.


The lower launcher panel is the surface that the note moves across. At the end it is bent by a zip tie to allow for easier intaking from the source. This bend will also start to cause the middle of the plate around the launcher wheels to bend upwards - make sure it does not bend so much that the Note contacts both the lower and upper launcher plates - this will introduce too much drag and cause Notes to fall short. Make sure Notes are only ever gliding along the bottom surface.


The upper plate prevents the note from popping out the top during the launching and intaking process.


The final important part of the KitBot launcher is the compression beam.



Whenever you are launching game objects in FRC, compression is one of the most important factors. If the compression beam was the diameter of the Note away from the launching wheel, the launching wheel would have no compression and no way to effectively transfer energy to the Note, as there would be enough room for the Note to sit in the gap without contacting the wheel. The compression could also be too high - if the gap between the wheels and the wall was only an inch or two wide, the Note might not fit at all and would probably stall the launching motor or tear up the Note. The 10 inch gap in the launcher offers about four inches of compression on the 14” Notes, which allows the launcher to launch relatively fresh Notes effectively. We found that an additional inch or two of compression also worked, but have not changed the location of the compression wall or otherwise modified the functional KitBot launcher other than removing a small strip of polycarb to fit the roller claw.