Final Machine Post

During the semester we made many changes to the design of the bot. We changed the way the door functioned. First we had planned to raise and lower it similar to how garage doors work. Instead we decided to attach it to a shaft and have it rotate. This was a more simple way to raise the door quickly and was less difficult to machine. In the final bot the door was able to move open and close quickly. Also we decided not to use an arm on the bot because that would make it more difficult to fit inside the size restriction.

During the competition the bot struggled moving. The motors provided little force forward and the bot could not travel straight. This may have occurred because the trim on the controller was off, so forces in each direction were not equal. Also the treads required a strong force to move the bot. We may have been better off with wheels which could have moved the bot more easily because there would be less rolling friction. When deciding to use a tread system we should have paid more attention to the strength of the motors since the motors are relatively weak compared to the force required to move a robust bot with treads.

In the seeding round the bot was able to move, but it could not get over the white barrier in the center of the table. This occurred because the tread got stuck on a ball. We did not anticipate this problem, and were not able to find a solution during the seeding round.

Our final machine had many positive attributes. It was very robust and was more simple than many other machines. In the seeding round the bot was able to move quickly and likely would have done well if it could get over the barrier.

-Tri-State Warriors

Video  our our round at the competition is located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YRVHWqlsDU

Here is a link to the final bill of materials: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12s-j9ciNhDiJuobAOVqdtsUDNTTfotrIVNf7en1Q33w/edit?hl=en&pli=1#