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Progress Report Apr. 6

We completed the skirt! We cut the aluminum sheet with water jet an bent them into shape using the break in the machine shop. They fit well but we need to shave off the front corners to prevent the skirt from getting caught on the field.

We have also figured out how to make the arm unfold. We put springs inside of the arm, connecting the two horizontal bars.

Progress as of April 2nd

After considerable time and effort over the past weeks, the robot is finally beginning to take shape. There are still several components left to machine, and the system needs to be tweaked in a number of ways, but the overall lay out is now coming together. We have the chassis completed, and the arm is manufactured but not fully assambled. We still have to make the chute, skirt, and finish the wiring of the robot before it is ready for testing and the competition.

Having gotten ahead on the mill during the first week, we have mostly been able to use the drill press and band saw to make the final holes for the less critical parts. We have also used the drill press for holes that depend on other parts, so that we can use a center punch to mark the exact location where the parts need to fit together relative to eachother. We have also spent time on the lathe, making the axles for the robot and on the arbor press to assamble the wheels, gears, and axles.

The biggest problem that we have run into recently was an error on the arbor press that resulted in a bent axle which needed to be remade from scratch. We have also realized that a few of the components did not work as we had predicted in the CAD model, and we have had to alter our design accordingly. We also did not pay attention on the arm parts, and accidentally drilled in the wrong location on one component, and on the wrong side of another. These errors will not affect the effectiveness of the robot, but they will look somewhat unprofessional.

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!!!