ROBBE (Robot of Bound Brook H.S & Ethicon) is made from an aluminum metal. The framework is made from 1x1-inch aluminum bars because it has a good strength to weight ratio.
The Electronics
IR-Board- This is basically the Brain of Robbe and almost any robot. It has all the codes and information Robbe needs to act on its own or with an operator. Code gets loaded to this from the programmer and its “brain” also holds codes of limits and records.
Limit Switches- There are two of these to stop ROBBE at a certain point in its motion so it doesn’t get damaged like when the operator drives before the robot finished its action. So we used one on our elevator & on our grippers to protect it from getting “hurt”.
Potentiometer- This is one of the memory parts of Robbe it records how far the grippers moves on its axis and sends this to the IR-Board (“The Brain”), which will send a message to the motor controlling the grippers to stop before they hit the ground or into ROBBE and we don’t want ROBBE to be hitting himself.
Speed controllers- A small chip with a fan that controls the amount and flow of electricity to a certain device, like the motors. This intern controls how much energy the motors get and how fast the robot goes. It’s like an artery valve.
Custom Metal Features
Grippers- Made of welded aluminum bars; they’re like ROBBE’s arms that can grab a 40" diameter ball. The bars are curved at about 3", have a 35" radius, and are about 42" long. They work by motors and pneumatics.
Elevator- Made from hollowed square aluminum that’s 1x1" this is the frame in which our basket guided up. The elevator works like a fishing pole we have a reel that pulls it up and lets the “line” be let down which is controlled by a pulley system.
Basket- A 22" aluminum circle and a 16" aluminum circle with about eight 3" aluminum bars that are the supports welded to each circle to make the basket. It cups the ball until it is in position and hit by a piston to go over the overpass.
Interesting Parts
Wheels- We use a 6 wheel drive, and each wheel has a special traction so they don’t wear easily, and the pit crew doesn’t have to fix it every lap :-) .The middle wheels are slightly lower set to rock on a turn so 4 wheels are always touching.
Controls
Robbe can be controlled in two ways: joystick for the Tele-operated mode or by remote in the hybrid/auto mode
Now here’s some math-
If “Robbe = Puppet,” than the “Controls = The Strings,” which connect to the IR-Board which equals brain.
Joysticks- 4 joysticks, 2 that control the right and left side of Robbe by a tank control scheme (it drives like a tank), and 2 that control the elevator, punch piston and grippers.
Remote- Tells Robbe to turn left, turn right, to stop or to shoot in the hybrid mode. Robbe automatically drives straight in auto/hybrid mode.
The Muscles
These are all the parts that grab or rotate the “ligaments,” like muscles.
Pneumatics- A system used to power/move the grippers and piston through “air cylinders.” The system uses pressure from air in the “air cylinders” to push the piston or opens/close the grippers.
Compressor- Machine used to pack air to go to the capacitors.
Capacitor- The storage for air, they’re used by the air cylinders. They act like the lungs in a human body, but Robbe has three...strange…
Air Cylinders- Two of them for the grippers, moving them in & out, and one cylinder that punches the ball. It works by using air from the capacitors to push a rod built inside the cylinder to move the gripper arm our force the plate to punch the ball.
Drive Motors- They have the most power to them, so we put two on each side of Robbe. They basically drive Robbe’s wheels backwards or forwards. Using the tank scheme, if we only move one set of wheels on one side we can turn it to our liking.
Window Motor – It’s like the motor used to operate the window in a car, but in Robbe it pulls the elevator up and drops it down.
Fisher Price Motor- This motor runs on electricity and controls the gripper’s up & down rotation (it’s a small motor).
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