Project information
- Category: Other
- Client: Granite City Gearheads FIRST Robotics Team
- Project date: Jan 2017 - April 2017
Project Objective
To design and build a module that will give the robot the ability to transport and place gears
Overview
The 2017 FIRST Robotics competition “STEAMworks”, involved shooting fuel (whiffle balls) into a tall goal as well as grabing and placing gears on a springy peg. The gears are then pulled up by a human into an “airship” and used to score points. Gears are delivered to the field from slots in the corners in an area called the “feeder station” and robots can only have possession of one gear at a time. I was tasked with mentoring 2-3 students on the design and development of a mechanism to collect those gears from the feeder station and place them on the peg.
Final Product
The completed mechanism was dubbed the “gear scoop”. It features a clear polycarbonate chute to guide the gear into the scoop after being dropped from the feeder. The chute has a cutout in the shape of the gear which gives space for the peg to be inserted into any one of the openings of the gear. Once on the peg, the scoop will lower which removes the gear from the scoop. This lowering ability was chosen over opening doors as it would then allow the robot to pick up dropped gears from alliance members or the humans inside the airship. A camera was also mounted with a 3D printed bracket behind the chute to assist the drivers in lining up the gear on the peg. Due to it being mounted on the side of the robot, mecanum wheels were required to allow sideways motion.
Conclusion
The gear scoop performed its function much better than expected. The ability to pick up gears from the floor was intended to be used up against walls, either by the feeder or the airship. However, it was discovered during testing that it could pick up gears in the middle of the playing field with ease. Initially it was intended as an add-on since the focus was on scoring with fuel but focusing on gears turned out to be the winning strategy during the competitions. The scoop allowed us to win 1st place at on off-season (unofficial) competition.
