Rolling Thunder

Team

Members: Kenzo Fraser

Description

Rolling Thunder (RT) is a 1.5lb plastic combat robot. RT was created with the mind of taking advantage of the +0.5lb weight bonus for robots with a walker/shuffler mechanism. RT has gone through several configurations from 2023-24 attending several competitions, reaching as far as to be named "Most Destructive" in CROS March Madness 2024. RT's design was unique in its design as one of the few double-cam walker motion robots in combat robotics.

Design

RT is mostly composed of super PLA+ 3d printed parts. RT has one of the largest weapons for the 1lb class with a diameter of up to 8". RT's first configuration consisted of a 12" weapon with a single cam walker system. However, due to many flaws with the shuffler mechanism, the mechanism was switched to a double-cam walker system reducing the weapon size. RT saw better performance after that with better speed and won more matches, but would still face many issues with overheating of the shuffler motors and battery failure.