Scorpius (1073)
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Scorpius was the robot built by Team 1073 in 2004 for FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar.
Contents |
Pre-build
stuff like getting sponsors and projects that got incorporated into this year's robot.
Build
Team FORCE entered its sophomore year with enthusiasm and skill, but without cohesive cooperation among the sub-teams. This was greatly amplified and made abundantly apparent during heated discussion about the proper approach to the robot's design. The primary source of the conflict was discrepancy between what the Strategy team wanted and what the Design team deemed feasible. This conflict consumed nearly the entire first week and was a severe blow to progress early on. Ultimately, the design approach was determined by a vote among the entire team and progress began. The Design team was then given its rightful prerogative in designing while Strategy minded their proper concerns. Following the rough beginning, the team progressed quickly and designed the robot very fast, leading to full-size mockups by the third week and a moving chassis by the fourth.
There was no corral mechanism by the unveiling event at Nashua High School North, but Scorpius demonstrated its superior maneuverability and speed. The robot was finished in time for the competition in Manchester without time to spare, but with slightly less last-minute panic than in other years.
Accomplishments
Manchester Regional 2004
general description of how it went
- Seeding
- elimination round
- awards
Robot
The robot is positioned with its wider dimension forward and a large section cut out of the front, large enough for two 13-inch rubber balls used in the game. The general strategy for the robot was to gather balls and return them to the human player, all the while ignoring the bar in the center of field. At the front of the robot were two caster wheels for maximum maneuverability and hinges for the corral mechanism. The corral was attached to the hinges and controlled via a chain connecting to a motor in the body of the chassis. On the corral itself was a special roller with a one-way clutch that allowed it to roll over and collect balls while preventing them from getting out. The corral could contain four balls at any time and used additional rollers to keep them from getting wedged under the chassis. When the corral bar raised, a level mechanism attached to it would push the balls out for the human player to retrieve.
In the rear of the chassis were two 8-inch drive wheels, each one connected to a Chiaphua CIM motor and transmission. Combined with the forward casters, the independently-driven wheels allowed for high manueverability and zero turn radius. Mounted on the center of the chassis was a beam with a Globe motor mounted halfway up. At the top of the beam was a bearing-mounted plastic-coverd styrogoam arm, which was chained to the globe motor. This particularly vicious-looking attachement was used to remove the 37-inch bonus balls during the match. In fact, the arm was decorated with flashing lights inside.
Robot Functions
- Collected four 13-inch rubber balls
- Ejected balls for human player to retrieve
- Knocked bonus ball out of movable goal
Robot Strategy
- Collect four balls
- Return balls to human player
- Knock out bonus ball
