Pre Season:

Objective:

This year's game had a number of stakes (posts) to score on, ranging from movable hexagonal stakes, to fixed stakes at different levels of elevation attached to the walls. In addition, any movable goal put into the positive corners would double the score of the goals, while the negative corners would negate them (2v2). We needed a robot that could excel in both the skills challenge (1 robot) and the 2v2 challenge (2 robots v 2 robots). In the pre-season, we tested out a lot of ideas and prototypes.

Brainstorming process:

We researched a prior game with similarly shaped elements from long ago. However, with vastly different rules and scoring priorities, and upgraded electronics and hardware, we decided to make a design we hadn't seen before. We designed 6 motors on the drive base to be able to move around the field quickly, geared for the best combination of acceleration, pushing force, and top speed. We used a diagonal conveyor that hooks to quickly carry the rings from the ground onto the mobile stakes clamped to the back of the robot. Uniquely, we decided to add a mechanism that redirects the rings from the intake into a hopper that is on the lift, so we can score on the fixed elevated wall stakes.

Assembly:

Assembly of the drive base went smoothly. By splitting up the work, our team was able to build the redirect mechanism, and the conveyor very quickly. However, the conveyor proved difficult to build. We cycled through several different Lexan shapes to maximize the ability to pick up the rings before settling on a Triangular hook shape. Additionally, it took a fair amount of trial and error to get the back tilter to line up with the conveyor. In order to build the back clamp, we needed to use a complicated pneumatics system. Finally, we used proportional, integral, and derivative feedback control to effectively code the robot and make the autonomous driving very precise.

Results:

The Mall of America Signature event in Minnesota was the first competition of the year across the world, so nobody knew how the game would be played and which strategies would work. Our robot functioned well in the skills challenge, earning us 7th place in the tournament and 12th place in the world at the time. We learned a lot in the 2v2 matches to improve our robot and determine which strategies worked. Our autonomous code for the first 15 seconds was instrumental to winning the entire match, but it was inconsistent, causing us to lose many matches.

Early Season:

Objective:

Given our performance at the last competition, we learned that the most important winning factor is to be able to score very quickly. The wall stakes were hard to score on with our last robot but this strategy could result in an advantage over other teams that didn't have a mechanism for them. Additionally, we needed to build a stronger pneumatic clamp to hang on to the mobile stakes better. 

Brainstorming:

Since the back mobile stake clamp was too inconsistent, we decided to redesign it for maximum clamping strength by using a class 1 lever with 3 short pneumatic pistons so we would never drop a mobile stake. Additionally, we completely rebuilt our intake system. We simplified it by making our redirect mechanism use the reversal of the motor after a ring passed a one-way hatch to go into the front scoring hopper. Our old redirect mechanism was too unreliable and slow.

Assembly Process