Team Strategy
After the team got together from the three groups and decided on a final design for the robot, we then split into four different groups to begin prototyping the design. The first group worked on ball pickup, designing a vertical double conveyor belt-like system to take in fuel balls from the floor. The prototype was made of two sections of PVC rollers set 28.5 inches apart and connected by 11 elastic cords. The second group was tasked with testing a climbing mechanism that would
The ball pickup mechanism allow our robot to climb the airships ' rope. This mechanism was a PVC roller wrapped The fuel ball shooter in Velcro material and mounted at the top of the robot. On the edges of the roller were plastic ends to prevent the rope from coiling around the motor when climbing. The third team was responsible for the fuel ball shooter. This consisted of a cylindrical drum that pushed fuel balls into a roller which helped throw the balls out of the top of the shooter. The fourth and final group created the prototype for the gear pickup. This prototype caught
The gear pickup mechanism
a gear as it fell from the retrieval zone and placed it on the airships’ peg. The prototypes are still being edited but will eventually become the main functions of our 2017 robot.
The rope climbing mechanism
Issue 3: January 30, 2017 PAGE 4