Mechanical

Gripper:

The gripper mechanism was molded after basic C clamp. A motor was coupled to the threaded shaft and driven to grab Jenga blocks. This worked but the original clamp was much to heavy so it was redesigned and 3D printed, the size of the threaded rod was also decreased significantly. The clamp was made to be longer so that the back side of the Jenga tower could be reached, however it could not be connected to the tower easily because the weight was too far out in front. The third iteration of the clamp brought back the clamp closer to the tower, gave supports for the motor driving the thread and the proximity sensor. Finally the threaded rod was removed and was replaced by mounting a servo motor directly the back of the clamp. Sandpaper was added where the Jenga block contacts the claw to increase friction.

Tower:

These MICROTEK Scanners were scrapped from classrooms around Oregon State. They were able to serve as the belt and pulley system for the vertical motion of the robot. The tower remained relatively unchanged over the course of the project, the only major change was the distance in between the vertical rods. The platform changed over time though. It started out as just a wood platform but connecting it to the vertical rods was a challenge and eventually the clamp itself was attached to the tower by threading screws into the original bearing housing.

Base/Linear Movement:

The original idea for approaching the tower and retrieving the blocks was a XY Plotter. This failed because the area it would have to cover would have been much too great, and the weight couldn't be supported. We also noticed that moving left to right was not necessary because our primary focus was the blocks on our playing side. The change was made to a simple cart where the back two wheels were driven, simplifying this aspect of the design to one degree of freedom.