Buidling Robots

Building Robots

During the off season, we're testing lots of robot drive systems on many different obstacles.

Robots

2 Wheel Drive (pivot, skid, bump, locked pivot, ...)

4 Wheel Drive

Differential

Treads

Gearing

Modular Design

Variations on each of the drive systems will be tested too.  It could be as simple as changing the wheel size.  Or it could mean trying a pivot, skit, and bump, for a two wheel drive robot.

Challenges

Speed - driving, forwards, backwards and around a large square.

1. Time to drive forward 8 feet.
2. Time to drive backwards 8 feet.
3. Time to drive around 12 foot square.

Accuracy - can the robot drive forwards, backwards, forwards with a turn, and through a maze, accurately.  A marker will be attached to the robot as it repeats the tests to see the differences in the robot path.

1. Using marker, drive forward 4 feet, 10 times,  (measure line spread)
2. Using marker, drive backwards 4 feet, 10 times,  (measure line spread)
3. Using marker, drive forward with a turn,  10 times,  (measure line spread)
4. Using marker, drive through maze 3 times, (measure line spread and time)
   -  repeat using sensors, or walls to help robot align

Uneven Surface - what type of obstacles can the robot drive over?  How many rows of LEGO can it drive over?

1. Drive robot over uneven surface and record last obstacle crossed.
2. Drive robot over stack of LEGO and record highest height crossed.

Ramp - Can it climb up and down and incline surface (painted ramp)?

1. Find the steepest incline (in degrees) the robot can climb at least 2 feet.
2. Find the steepest decline (in degrees) the robot can drive at least 2 feet.

Weight - how much weight can it push or pull?

1. Find highest weight a robot can push 2 feet.
2. Find highest weight a robot can pull 2 feet.

Light Sensor - does it always stop in the same place?  How fast is line following?  How accurate is line following?

1. Drive forward and stop on line.  Repeat two times and measure tire spread.
2. Use line following to follow a curve about 4 feet and then push down 1-2 beams.  Repeat 4 times and record which beams are pushed.  Record time it takes to follow line.

Climbing - can it climb a tether?

Since most robots won't climb a tether, this ended up as a separate challenge.  Could we build any robot that could climb a tether?  Check out the video to see the results!