Physical Build

One constant throughout our design was the terrain pieces on the base, and the box shaped robot. The robot base as well as the terrain was laser cut from MDF wood. The middle terrain part of the game was elevated using cut styrofoam which was initially designed to be a crater but in the final build was redesigned and repurposed to be a mountain.  

The Rover design took a few iterations and rebuilds before we settled on a final design. The biggest problem that we were trying to design for was how the Rover would balance and carry its weight as well as fitting all the component parts into the box. We took some base measurements for the diameter of the wheel as well as the color sensor (these elements would be finalized in the final sketch). The first cutout design as shown above used slots to hold the sides of the rover in place and had a simple cover. After we received feedback and upon further review, we agreed on a finger joint design that would clasp the sides as well as the top together. this allowed for the Rover to not only be more sturdy, but it also meant that we would not have to permanently glue the design and that allowed for more flexible and cost-effective problem solving when putting the bot together.

For the screen implementation of the game, we came up with the idea of having an upper compartment to hold the screen as well as LED strips. The compartment would be translucent, meaning that the player would be able to see the color that would corespond with the point they needed to collect. In implementation, however, we discovered that the LED strips would not be able to be powered by an external power source. However the upper compartment still served to separate the screen from the electronics, preventing users from accessing any of the internal components of the rover. As the Design process progressed we also realised that we wouldn't need four wheels for Rover functionality, Knowing this , we designed a "glider" leg at the back of the Rover to allow it to move on two wheels and glide around the board. For the final CAD design of the rover. We came up with the following sketch.

Using the CAD file above, we laser cut a new rover with the implementations we had discussed and came up with the Mercury Marauders Rover. The Rover is made from MDF wood as its body and an Acrylic cover for its top. 

Final Rover and Game Build