Our robot for the Deep Space competition, named Gandalf, was a simply designed robot. Primarily used for defence, we used a six, 8” pneumatic wheel drive train. It had its hatch panel mechanism on the front and pneumatic-powered skis that came down allowing access to the second level of the hab platforms positioned on the back of the robot.
Design Objectives
The team decided that the best way for us to succeed in the competition was to focus on defence rather than offence and to be able to help our alliance secure the hab climb ranking point.
- Descend from the 2nd Hab platform
- Place a hatch panel in the sandstorm period
- Defend and support our alliance members to the best of our ability
- Maintaining the ability to access the electrical components of the robot
Design Principles
In order to meet the objectives outlined above, we had to adhere to the following parameters:
- Meet dimension restrictions (32in x 28 in x 40in)
- Minimum ground clearance of 1 3/4 inch to avoid beaching on hab level 1
- Pneumatic wheel to cushion the impact of decent from level 2 to ground
- Vision to see obstacle and scoring objectives during the sandstorm
- Hatch mechanism that locks hatch into place to not loose during auto
- Dual speed transmission to allow high movement speed and high push torque
- Skis to jump from the ground to level 2
- Back camera for improved drive vision
Successes
- Member of the winning alliance at the Durham District event
- Won spirit award at the North Bay District event
- Member of a semi-finalist alliance at North Bay District event
- Captain of alliance 5 at Provincial Championships
- Placed 37th out of 173 teams in overall rankings
Lessons Learned
- Learned the importance of time management and effective strategy
- Learned how to make the best out of a simple robot
- Learned to effectively make a decision in a short period of time