Mechanical Design

Each team member has been given an objective to complete and a deadline. Work has been begun on constructing the arm and puncher that Styx will use during the game as illustrated in the Strategy section of this website. The puncher has been built using an extending beam lattice that can be demonstrated in the following illustration. As the two bottom beams are pushed together, the apparatus extends. It is kept stable by a wheel placed underneath it, and has two bars attached to the end of it so that it insures it will hit its target.

The bases for the two robots have also been begun. Styx will have a four wheel drive system. The back two wheels will have two motors connected to them by a gear, and will power the front two wheels by a system of gears as well. This will make it possible to easily go over the PVC pipe, insure that the robot does not slip while turning, and it can turn on itself.

Stones will be constructed differently. Since he has to be very fast and does not have to travel over the PVC pipe, he will only have three wheels. The back two wheels will move independently and be driven by two motors. The front wheel will be allowed to rotate 360 degrees completly independently and will not be controlled at all. This means that it will act similarly to the front wheels of a shopping cart, rotating to face the direction the robot is travelling.

A list of tasks to be completed and their deadlines has been assembled. However, people have not been assigned to these tasks. The following must be completed by March 3rd:

• Four Wheel Drive System
• Styx's Chasis
• Stone's Chasis

The following must be completed by March 10th:

• A working arm
• A working puncher to knock down Botguy
• Dumper/Sorter for the deposit of balls into bins
• All Sensors Calibrated