Robots
This is an example of how my side of the robot table divided up the building and coding work
Red Side example: All of us coded a mission - Sid and Elizabeth worked on Red 3 attachment pick ups and drop offs, as well as coding and reliability testing the run. Eve and Sully worked on Red 4 attachment pick ups and drop offs as well as coding and reliability. Similar thing happened with the blue side team. When we needed to crossover to get some extra testing done or a new set of eyes on a problem actuating a mission consistently, we did that.
These are examples of software we had to learn to do our project
This is how our team shared the project this season
We shared our project with experts through zoom meetings.
We shared our project with our community at school events like the halloween party and will share with students in a 1st grade classroom.
This is how your iterations and the work to be done was tracked for robot and project and how you made sure it was ready for competition.
Project and Robot Log.
Kanban chart for tasks that were not done yet but needed to be done by a particular competition date.
Provide an example for the competition you are currently at.
This is your problem statement in one sentence and this is why you believe is important to the study of archeology.
An artifact may deteriorate if it is removed from its original climate, causing important data to get lost.
We talked to multiple archeologists and they confirmed that the riskiest part of excavation was getting the artifacts out of the ground, safely in a container and labeled, and to the research facility.
This is the tool we used to model our robot and attachments and this is why we used that tool.
Studio 2.0 was used to model our robot and attachments. We use this tool to record how we built our attachment in case it breaks, and also have used it in the past to find mistakes
This is how we came up with our project idea
Each teammate researched an area of archeology, found a problem statement found existing solutions. We then voted on which problem statements were most interesting to us. We down selected to 3 problems, found that 1 was most problematic for the archeologist we talked to, and that is the one we chose.
This is how we interacted with the FIRST community this season.
We taught 5 teams how to code by supporting the rookie quick start.
We organized the Elmbrook kick-off meeting and marched with all Elmbrook teams in the parade.
Elizabeth supported a judging presentation at the Better Together conference.
This is an example of a problem we had to solve with our project idea - technical issue
Iteration –
This is our solution, in 3 sentences
Solution
This is how we use sensors in our robot design and game
We use gyro for precise turns, ensuring our robot drives straight even if the attachment is slightly imbalanced
We use color sensors to position the robot when coming out of blue base, to align the robot midrun before a next mission to correct for errors
We use the timing sensor to calibrate just-right wait times for our broadcast messaging
This was our project plan
Project Plan – Narrowed our problem statements down to one that we felt had the most impact on our experts. Came up with a prototyping plan and set up tasks in the Kanban chart. Separated out into teams to test different ideas – for example the cushioning of the artifact or the temperature regulation. Then we started to merge these ideas together into scaled prototypes to see what other issues might come up.
This is an example of outreach, beyond robotics.
We are collecting acts of kindness for Daniel Gives Back charity to honor his memory and promote gracious professionalism at FIRST events.
This is an example of an attachment we had to iterate constantly
We had to iterate the levers for the flag drop multiple times. The original flag drop lever had issues releasing the flag so we created slots around it to fix that. Then the gearing caused the flag to drop too hard on the mat, causing it to bounce, so we had to adjust that gearing to use a worm gear so it was more controlled.
This is how our solution is unique
Climate controlled transportation boxes do not exist for archeologists - current solution is bagging the materials which can lead to damage to the artifacts.
Existing solutions are not stackable
Our transporting device is unique because it is climate controlled, has removable dividers to house different sized artifacts, is meant to be portable and stackable. This solution is not available on the dig today.
Our Robot has these features and this is why they are important
New Rubber wheels with better traction – a lot less jerking / lunging than last year
Rubber Wheels - for better traction
Small, compact - to fit into small spaces
Two discs at the back - for quick north/south alignment
Two motors up front - so we can complete all mission model parts at once - its easy to plop on and take off attachments.
Robot is flat and sleek, 17% smaller than last year’s robot so it fits in tighter spaces.
These are the skills we had to learn to make our project
Circuit and schematic design
Python
3D printing
Power tool use
Bonding dissimilar materials together
Cooling strategies
Pottery
Sewing
This is how we found our experts
Expert use
This is an example of a particularly challenging code problem that impacted robot performance
Our Blue Run 1 had a particularly challenging time getting into position for the artifact mission. We used color sensing to get out of base and get positioned before we turned the wheel towards the mission to improve reliability. We also played with the gain on the drive straight myblock and speed to control the robot motion better.
This is a description of our most innovative attachment
The Grab and go uses a rack and pinion to push the ship up, it uses a gravity slide to drop the flag in the model, and it uses a passive post to pull the sand down. We use a combination of 3 different actuation methods to complete this mission in 10 seconds.
This is was our robot game strategy
Our intention is to complete all parts of all missions
We want to ensure our missions are 90% accurate so that we can achieve 80% accuracy on game day (9/10 tries rule)
We plan our runs to cross the mat once and to move in a circular motion so there isn't a lot of travel without mission actuation
We spend as little time as base in possible by using gravity based attachments (motors are pointing up)
This is how you used your experts to improve your project design
Technical experts - to get past a functional problem with the prototype
Technical experts - to confirm our strategy made sense and was manufacturable
Archeologists - to define what they needed, and if what we built would actually solve their problem
This is how we show inclusion during the project and Robot design process.
Inclusion – We divided tasks into our Kanban chart and made sure everyone had a role. We would share what we had completed at our Wednesday meetings. If someone were stuck on a task we would swarm on the task to make it happen.
This is how I knew that the project improved over time.
This is how I new that the robot improved over time.
Project: Users would use our prototype over what they already use on site because it would improve their experience. Also, technical experts confirmed that our strategy for making the box was possible. Also that the cost of the box was acceptable to the user.
Robot: Could see that physical or code improvements would meet the 9/10 rule. We could see that improvements saved us time (points earned/time metric). We could see time in base reduced so we had better control over our operator movements.
This is why our robot is innovative
Our Robot was designed from scratch to have a smaller size than the ADB, have capability to run attachments on 3 sides of the robot, and have plug and play features to keep the time in base short.
We created our attachments to be multi function so that we didn't have to continue to return back to missions to do each part.