We use CAD software like Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD in order to design and assemble our parts before we machine and print them, so we know exactly how each part will fit together and can avoid more mistakes.

One of the tasks was to create a lift that raised a yoga ball into the red vortex. This was done using a complex drawer slide and pulley system, along with a small but strong gearbox. This was by far our hardest task because this required a lot of outside-the-box thinking. Click on the picture to see one of the prototypes for this in action.

This was also one of our main components of our robot. Another task of the game was to build a mechanism that shot balls into the vortex. We had many designs including a fly-wheel system. Ultimately we decided on a flicker system because that gave us the most consistency. Click on the picture to see it in action.