Building the 2019 Bot
Our manipulator was the first mechanism to be completed! As shown below, the
manipulator has a octagonal shape with two black hook tape covered rollers to hold the
hatch cover and white foam with netting to catch the cargo ball. Air pistons are used to
push the hatch cover off of the hook tape easily and guides attached to springs are used
to make sure the hook tape on the rollers doesn’t attach to the rug on the field.
The team has been tediously working on the
drive train components. Students drilled
holes in the C-channels for the frame, along
with cut T-slot aluminum channels down to
size. The team used CAD to depict the layout
of the drive system in order to get a better
grasp on how the mechanisms will fit on the
frame. The drive train is shown on the right.
The lift system, constructed by Jim Rapacki,
uses two mechanisms (a lift in the front of
the robot and one in the rear) to lift the robot
onto the 2nd or 3rd platform of the habitat.
First the front lift will elevate the front of the
robot until the front wheels of the drive train
are high enough to place on the habitat. Once
the front wheels are on the platform, the
front lift retracts into the robot and the front
wheels of the bot pull the robot forward onto
the platform. Simultaneously, the rear lift
then lifts the back of the robot, so it is level,
and the robot drives onto the habitat plat-
form. The lift is shown on the right.
Issue 3: February 16, 2019
PAGE 3