Design

The main objective of our robot was to make it work, not make it look good.

Our “module” system ensures that we can easily adapt our robot as needed in a quick and easy manner. This system was built specifically to eradicate many of the disadvantages of using multiple attachments during a timed match. This allows us to utilize the maximum time possible on the board actually doing the missions, rather than struggling with attachments.

It functions using different attachment points, and friction points of various lengths to make a strong and stable, yet easy-to-modify connection for our various attachments. All attachments are attached to the robot in one of two ways.

We have a partial frame for stability and alignment. Our robot survived the drop test and the chassis is very strong, but you only need to remove 3 connection points to change the battery.

We started with a slightly adapted base bot, then made changes as required for the completion of the desired missions. Now, our robot is so much better than a base bot!

We needed the robot to not stall while rubbing on walls, so we added a back bumper. The back bumper needed to be slim but also far enough from the ground so it doesn’t interfere with some of the more challenging missions such as M04 - Crater Crossing. We also added a medium motor and a large motor to complete the missions where strength and moving parts is a necessity. As well, we needed a way for the robot to stop itself automatically and not go on forever into a wall and need to be turned off manually, so we added touch sensors.

As the number of our attachments grew, we realized we need an easy way to attach and take off components, so we rebuilt most of our robot to implement our “module” system, which allows us to efficiently adapt parts of robot for easy attachment/detachment/repair while at the mat.