Progress as of March 20th

We have made considerable progress during our first week in the machine shop. Between our three milling sessions, we have completed several parts, and gotten through a large portion of the work on the parts for the chassis and the arm.

We did make some mistakes, notably, having incorrect dimensions for the motors, which led us to drill some of the attachment holes in the wrong place. We also cut some of the parts too short, or at too much of an angle on the band saw, which forced us to scrap two pieces of 1" tubing.

We still need to finish the baseplate, some holes in the arm, and reaming the axle bushings on the mill, and we also need to turn the axles on the lathe, but within the next few machine shop sessions, we should be able to begin assembling and testing the robot.

Goals and Deadlines

Complete CAD Model with fasteners	Mar. 12, 2012
MS6 - Critical Module	Mar. 12, 2012
HW4 - Motor Lab	Mar. 14, 2012
Engineering Drawings for all parts	Mar. 14, 2012
Assemble - 6 speed gearbox	Mar. 15, 2012
Exam	Mar. 20, 2012
Manufacture - bearings	Mar. 26, 2012
Manufacture - axles	Mar. 26, 2012
MS7 - 3 Manufactured Parts	Mar. 26, 2012
MS8 - All Engineering Complete	Mar. 28, 2012
Manufacture - arm	Apr. 4, 2012
Manufacture - skirts	Apr. 4, 2012
Integration - mount to base plate	Apr. 4, 2012
MS9 - Machining Complete	Apr. 4, 2012
Testing Drivetrain	Apr. 6, 2012
Testing Arm, Practice scoring	Apr. 10, 2012
MS10 - Finish for competition	Apr. 11, 2012
Team Blog Finished	Apr. 16, 2012

Introductory Post

Welcome to team Robot Giraffe's project blog

Our robot will use an arm to collect balls from the top of the tower in the center of the playing field, scoring a large number of points quickly from the high value balls on the top of the tower. After the tower balls are collected, the robot will deposit them in the scoring bin, and can then either collect additional balls on the ground, or it will block and harass the opponent.

The Robot's arm will be spring-loaded to extend and reach the higher tower balls that are above the allowable robot height limit. The arm will have two pins at the two heights of tower balls to knock the balls from the tower and into a chute. The chute will lead into a collection area beneath the robot body, and the collection area will also be able to collect additional balls on the ground. The robot will be driven by two wheels towards the front, and the a ball caster will support the robot's rear.

New Blog

We have a team blog!!!