Our robot this year was designed in the time-frame of about 2 months, but we have been constantly making changes. Our site will explain the various elements of the bot and how they were chosen. Let's start with the base.
We are currently in the process of designing our robot for this year, so please be patient with us in getting the details of this years robot up on the site!
Last Years Robot:
The Chassis:
Our robot uses an octagonal chassis that is slightly U-Shaped. This allows us to be mobile, while having a pocket to store the intake which reaches to the ground to pick up the balls. We currently employ a omni-wheeled holonomic wheel base with a 1:2 gear ratio for maximum speed and mobility on the field. Ummmm...No. We have determined through practice tests and competitions that holonomic omni-wheeled drive is good in principal, but in practice, it is very tricky. It was difficult to go up the ramp, a major scoring element, so we've opted to go for mecanum wheels. These will give us the same maneuverability as the old system, but now with added rigidity of the chassis. Previously, the chassis was not exactly aligned, causing structural weakness, and drifting. The wheels have gear ratios of 2:3 to provide just a bit more torque to avoid being pushed around. This new base and all elements can be seen in the gallery
The Intake:
Our Robot uses a J-shaped Intake with a conveyor belt running through the longer part. The conveyor has multiple flaps to pull in the balls quickly and efficiently. They go straight up the tube and two zip-ties push them into our ball containment unit.
The Lift:
Our robot has, what the designer - Jordan - wants to call it, an 80/20 double vertical linear slide system. What this includes is two sets of five 13 inch Aluminum Channels, bought online from 80/20 Inc. They stack next to each other in a stair-step pattern. Each of these channels slide with an extremely low coefficient of friction against each other and ultimately raise the innermost channel. We use a cascading rope system lift the channels quickly with braided line and a 1:6 gear ratio winch. We can currently reach the 120 cm goal. We para-cord for the rope as it is rather strong and will not stretch. We run this over some 1/4 in bolts with a polish on them to make them slide easily. We also 3-D printed pieces the bolts stick into that will stop the cord from popping off of the bolt
The Ball Containment Unit
Our ball containment is a sheet metal construct that angles to the front left corner. Gravity naturally makes the balls slide to this location and a servo door opens to release the balls into the tube that is behind us.
The Goal Latch:
To latch onto goals and drag them behind us, centered so that the BCU can drop into them accurately, we use a series of 2 servos on either side of the goal. These servos have rods that push outwards when run and stop the goal from moving once activated. They contact the goal base at the exact points the it hits our chassis, to ensure we latch in the same spot every time.
We are currently in the process of designing our robot for this year, so please be patient with us in getting the details of this years robot up on the site!
Last Years Robot:
The Chassis:
Our robot uses an octagonal chassis that is slightly U-Shaped. This allows us to be mobile, while having a pocket to store the intake which reaches to the ground to pick up the balls. We currently employ a omni-wheeled holonomic wheel base with a 1:2 gear ratio for maximum speed and mobility on the field. Ummmm...No. We have determined through practice tests and competitions that holonomic omni-wheeled drive is good in principal, but in practice, it is very tricky. It was difficult to go up the ramp, a major scoring element, so we've opted to go for mecanum wheels. These will give us the same maneuverability as the old system, but now with added rigidity of the chassis. Previously, the chassis was not exactly aligned, causing structural weakness, and drifting. The wheels have gear ratios of 2:3 to provide just a bit more torque to avoid being pushed around. This new base and all elements can be seen in the gallery
The Intake:
Our Robot uses a J-shaped Intake with a conveyor belt running through the longer part. The conveyor has multiple flaps to pull in the balls quickly and efficiently. They go straight up the tube and two zip-ties push them into our ball containment unit.
The Lift:
Our robot has, what the designer - Jordan - wants to call it, an 80/20 double vertical linear slide system. What this includes is two sets of five 13 inch Aluminum Channels, bought online from 80/20 Inc. They stack next to each other in a stair-step pattern. Each of these channels slide with an extremely low coefficient of friction against each other and ultimately raise the innermost channel. We use a cascading rope system lift the channels quickly with braided line and a 1:6 gear ratio winch. We can currently reach the 120 cm goal. We para-cord for the rope as it is rather strong and will not stretch. We run this over some 1/4 in bolts with a polish on them to make them slide easily. We also 3-D printed pieces the bolts stick into that will stop the cord from popping off of the bolt
The Ball Containment Unit
Our ball containment is a sheet metal construct that angles to the front left corner. Gravity naturally makes the balls slide to this location and a servo door opens to release the balls into the tube that is behind us.
The Goal Latch:
To latch onto goals and drag them behind us, centered so that the BCU can drop into them accurately, we use a series of 2 servos on either side of the goal. These servos have rods that push outwards when run and stop the goal from moving once activated. They contact the goal base at the exact points the it hits our chassis, to ensure we latch in the same spot every time.