Mercury Rising – 2007
Game robot was designed for: Rack ‘N’ Roll
Brief Description of Game: Two alliances, one red and one blue, composed of three teams each, compete in each match. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by placing toroidal game pieces on the central goal structure (the rack), and/or by having robots in their home zone and not in contact with the playing field at the end of the match. For more information visit http://www.usfirst.org
Frame – Tubular Aluminum
Drive System: 6″ Lawnmower wheels wrapped in wedge-top-grip. The wheels are powered by two CIMS on the 2007 Andy Mark Gen 2 Shifting Gearboxes, moving about 14 ft / s in high speed and 8 ft / s in high torque.
Manipulator: Sliding chain-driven daltile metal powered by two window motors. At the top is an elbow jointed arm which has four pneumatically powered fingers used to pick up inner tubes.
New Concepts: Fold-out spring-loaded ramping system designed to hold two full sized FRC robots 12.5 inches in the air.
Components Discarded: None
The 2007 robot was used to play the game “Rack ‘n’ Roll” which involved putting inner tubes on an eight-legged rack structure. In the end of the game, the robot had to effectively pick up its alliance partners and elevate them 12 inches in the air. The robot, named Mercury Rising was very effective and scored an average of 5 tubes per round. Mercury Rising was a first round pick at the UTC Connecticut Regional and landed us as quarter-finalists in the overall competition. The robot also had 5-2 record at the Championship Event which made us 13th seed in the Newton Division. Mercury Rising also had much success in the off season by becoming semi-finalist at Monty Madness and Duel on the Delaware and quarter finalists at Brunswick Eruption. We used our knowledge from this robot to improve our 2008 robot.