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Fluffernutter was built in collaboration with a fellow Tufts Robotics Club teammate during my spring semester at freshman year. It was designed to compete in the NHRL April event in Norwalk, CT.
It is a 3-lb, horizontal spinner and competed in two matches at NHRL before being knocked out. We lost our first match against Eviscerator and our second match we won because our adversary was too damaged to compete. Because of this, Fluffernutter was the only robot from our team to make it to the bracket matches, where we were unfortunately knocked out by Turbofiend.
NHRL April 2026
NHRL April 2026
Design & Manufacturing
Design & Manufacturing
Full robot assembly in Onshape
Fluffernutter was designed to be an upgraded version of Sandwich from fall semester, and I purchased more robust motors and wheels. I also made the weapon significantly thicker and used TPU guards to try and protect the motor. I also needed to drastically reduce weight, and used carbon fiber instead of aluminum for the armor to do so.
We still ended up being overweight and had to ditch half of the hardware and drill holes in the weapon struts to weigh in at exactly 3-pounds.
Carbon steel horizontal spinner with unique hole to accomodate the hub motor
Internal wiring of Fluffernutter
Blown capacitor discovered post-final match; the reason we lost drive control
For next year, I plan to make several improvements to the bot I decide to build. First, I am going to try not direct driving with my weapon motor or my wheel motors; Fluffernutter took many hits that caused damage to the motors because they were too exposed. Next, I will mount my on/off switch securely instead of relying on 5-minute epoxy the day of the competition. This is more for safety than anything else, but it will also prevent having to skip a match because I cannot turn my robot on. Lastly, I will have much cleaner wiring. With Fluffernutter, I underestimated the amount of space I would need for electronics and wires and we had trouble passing inspection because the wheels and weapon were not getting power due to a short.
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