Atlas – 2010
Game robot was designed for: Breakaway
Brief description of game: Two alliances, one red and one blue, composed of three FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams each, compete in each match. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent by shooting balls into a goal, climbing on the alliance tower or platform, or by lifting an alliance robot off the playing surface.
Frame: This year’s frame is made of aluminum and other components from the kits received from FIRST. We tried to keep the center of gravity low to avoid tipping.
Drive System: We used six 8″ lawn mower wheels with treads for added traction. The central wheels are higher than the rest to assist in going over the bump installed in the field. It uses two CIM motors through the AndyMark Super Shifter on each side of our tank drive system.
Manipulator: This year, we used a kicker mechanism. It is a spring loaded mechanism that uses a cam system to shoot. This manipulator runs on one motor to move the cam. We also have a hanging device. It works through holding the hanger down and releasing the tension to extend to the final position.
New Concepts: Much of this year’s bot is different than years prior. We used larger than normal wheels, lifted the middle wheel and tried a new way of attaching our bumpers. We also worked with springs more than in the past. Shifting gear boxes are new to our current group of students; ’07 was the last year they were used on our team. In programming, we’ve created a program that records data from each match in a text file to use for debugging and analysis later.
Components Discarded: The idea of a pneumatic system was played with and prototyped for many weeks but in the end, the cam system won.