Battle Bot Design Challenge

Being part of the mechatronics program at my university, I was placed in an introductory robotics class. This class has definitely been one of my favorites, mostly due to it being such a hands on class, but also because it allowed us to be creative in a way that no other classes have. This robotics class was geared towards us building several robots throughout the semester, that we used to compete in challenges with each other along the way. Our first project involved racing other bots to score points by moving pool balls around a table, and the second project was a battle bot project where opponents attempted to push each other out of a ring. 

One of the goals of this class was to expose us to mechanical design, while simultaneously teaching us how to complete basic wiring, and manipulate Arduino programs to fit our needs. I enjoyed this format and above you can see some of our wiring. 

 Above is an image of our robot that was competing in the competition focused on moving pool balls around a table to specific zones to earn points. My partner and I won first place in our competition, and our robot completed tasks smoothly and in a timely manner. 

 We were encouraged to decorate our bots and I wanted to include pictures because they I think they're hilarious. Even though this class was focused on engineering design, I think I learned more about what it means to be a part of a good team. My partner and I both had no prior experience with any of the content we cover in this class, but we still did well. I think our ability to work as a team is what made us stand out in this first competition. We developed this amazing communication where if someone was wrong about something, it was totally ok to let them know so we could fix it. We had a lot of respect for each other which kept either of us from ever getting defensive. Our Second project also went well, but I don't have as many pictures, and this first one stood out to me the most.