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The Story of Our Robot - vexmen.com€¦ · Team 81M is a high school Vex Robotics Team. The team is part of the Vexmen Robotics Club from Downingtown Pennsylvania. This team is dedicated

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Page 1: The Story of Our Robot - vexmen.com€¦ · Team 81M is a high school Vex Robotics Team. The team is part of the Vexmen Robotics Club from Downingtown Pennsylvania. This team is dedicated

2015-16

Vexmen

Downingtown PA

2015-16

The Story of Our Robot

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Table of Contents About Team 81 M ......................................................................................................................................... 2

The Base ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

The Problem .............................................................................................................................................. 4

Relevant Rules and Parameters ................................................................................................................ 4

Brainstorming and Concept Models ......................................................................................................... 7

Changing the Base ..................................................................................................................................... 9

DoubLe reverse 6-bar.................................................................................................................................. 10

The Problem ............................................................................................................................................ 11

Relevant Rules and Parameters .............................................................................................................. 12

Brainstorming ......................................................................................................................................... 14

Designing ................................................................................................................................................. 15

Building the Lift ....................................................................................................................................... 16

Failure and Physics .................................................................................................................................. 17

The PantaGraph .......................................................................................................................................... 18

The Problem ............................................................................................................................................ 19

Rules and Parameters. ............................................................................................................................ 20

Design and Inspiration ............................................................................................................................ 23

Build Montage ......................................................................................................................................... 25

Failures and Struggles ............................................................................................................................. 27

Investigating Material Properties ........................................................................................................... 28

The Skyrise Claw.......................................................................................................................................... 31

The Problem ............................................................................................................................................ 32

Relevant Parameters ............................................................................................................................... 33

Brainstorming.......................................................................................................................................... 34

Building the Skyrise Sweeper .................................................................................................................. 35

The New Scissor Lift .................................................................................................................................... 36

Building the New Scissor ......................................................................................................................... 38

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About Team 81 M Team 81M is a high school Vex Robotics Team. The team is part of the Vexmen Robotics Club

from Downingtown Pennsylvania. This team is dedicated to learning advanced concepts connected to

Science, Technology Engineering and Math by Designing, building and programming a competitive

Robot.

This year we focused on using experimental data and virtual modeling to influence our design

and using Agile Project management to organize our build efforts. We modeled many of our ideas into

fully built, detailed Autodesk Inventor Drawings to fully realize our design before building. Mystique also

used experiments to design our robot. We experimentally tuned our PID control. We also devised an

experiment to test the differences between the material properties of different Vex parts. We

preformed tensile strength tests and analyzed stress strain curves.

We also learned about project management. We learned about Agile project management and

created sprints, burn down charts, epics and stories throughout the season. This helped us keep our

hectic season organized and on track.

Our team attended four competitions this year. We were very successful and won at least one

award at every competition. We attended the Downingtown Classic on January 10, 2015 and won the

build award. On January 24, 2015 we attended the Dockbots competition. There we won our season’s

first design award. The next event we attended was the DC Knights Qualifier on January 31, 2015. There

we won the judges award. Lastly, we attended the Pennsylvania State Championships. There we won

both the design award and the title of Pennsylvania’s Programming Skills Championships

Our team is composed of four members: Rob, Miranda, Sarah and Ian. Rob is a junior at

Downingtown West High school. He has been participating in Vex Robotics for six years. He is an

amazing builder and Designer. He has previously been on teams 81, 80G, and 81G. Miranda is a Junior at

the Downingtown STEM Academy. She has participated in Vex for five years. She is the team’s

programmer and notebooker. She has previously been on teams 80 and 80N. This is her 3rd year on team

81M. Sarah is also a junior at the Downingtown STEM Academy. She is our project manager. She

manages our workload and ensures all our projects are on track. This is her second year in Vex robotics.

Last but not least, 81M’s rookie member is Ian. It is his first year in Vex robotics. He is a Freshman at

Downingtown West High School. Ian is our best coach. Now that you know about the team its time to

learn about the Robot!

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The Base

Team 81M started off the season by designing our base. To

design this subsystem we defined the problem, researched

relevant rules, brainstormed ideas, created concept models,

chose and built a design and then modified that design later

OUR DESIGN PROCESS

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The Problem This year’s 2014- 2015 Vex

Robotics Competition Game is

Skyrise. A picture of the game

field is to the right. The game

field is 12ft by 12ft big.

The field has one main pile of

cubes in the middle and cubes

scattered around the outside

edge. The cubes on the floor

may be an obstacle when

trying to maneuver. There is

also the Skyrise bases in the

corners. To reach those bases

we do not need to move far

because they are near the

starting tiles.

Our task is to create a robot

base to navigate around the

field and play the game.

Relevant Rules and Parameters Size Requirement

Specification: The robot base must be no larger than 18in by 18in by 18in large

Testing Method: The sizing tool will be used to test the final base and any concept

models in Autodesk Inventor will be measured before fabrication.

Why? Robot Rule R4 constrains the dimensions. Since the base is the first system we

build, we

have the full

18 in by 18in

by 18 in

dimensions

available.

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Materials Restriction

Specification: The robot base must be made only out of Vex parts.

Testing Method: Comparing the parts list to legal Vex parts

Why? Rules R5 and R 6 limit the materials to only Vex parts. We cannot use any non-vex

parts sold from non-Vex resellers.

There are some parts that do not follow this rule. Any Identical parts can be used as

well. These exceptions are defined in rule R7

Any IDENTICAL Vex part can be used. There is also the option to use polycarbonate to

build. Identical Electrical Non-Vex parts are not allowed.

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Our base must also be light, easy to build and fairly maneuverable. Using these rules and our goals we

brainstormed many different base designs including Tank Drive bases and Holonomic bases. We

narrowed our brainstorms down to Holonomic versus Tank Drive.

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Brainstorming and Concept Models

Holonomic versus

Tank Drive

We brainstormed two

possible designs, made

sketches and rendered

them in Autodesk Inventor.

After a lively debate, we

concluded the tank base

design is far superior to the

holonomic base for a

variety of reasons. Even

though the holonomic base

is more maneuverable,

Holonomic bases are

generally harder to design

and build. The holonomic

base also is less powerful.

This is due to the force

vectors being split over an

angle. The max potential

motor exsertion is the

motor power divided by the

square root of two (see

journal for more info)

The tank base may be less

maneuverable but they

maximize the motor force

and are easy to build.

Because of these factors we

chose to build a tank Drive

base.

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The Base was built almost exactly like the Autodesk

Inventor Model. The only difference between the

virtual and real models is the real model has quad

encoders. The Quad encoders mesure wheel

rotation and will be helpful when programming

later.

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Changing the Base

In late December, we built a

scissor lift (the lift is detailed

later in the book). The lift

required a narrower and

shorter base due to the

internal lift system and a

planned grasping

mechanism.

We first sketched out the

change in base dimensions in

our engineering design

Journal and we then

prototyped the change in

Autodesk Inventor to ensure

it will not conflict with any

existing mechanisms.

The drawing above is the existing base. The

drawing to the right is the improved base. The

base was shortened and it was made narrower.

The New base is 14 in wide and the old base is

17.5. The base now can accommodate the

news lift and the grasping Mechanism.

After this iteration, we also eventually switched

our motors to strength instead of the original

speed.

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DoubLe reverse 6-bar

.

THE CAM SHOOTER

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The Problem

Now that we have a fully

functioning base, we

need a lifting mechanism

to raise the cubes off of

the ground and score

them. The goal heights

are 47”, 40”, and 24”.

The mechanism must be

both tall and stable

because the higher the

robot the greater the risk

of tipping. We need to

keep this in mind when

designing.

Problem Statement:

To play Skyrise we must

create a mechanism to

lift game elements up

into the air and score

them on top of the

various sized posts

scattered around the

field. We must build a

stable mechanism to

perform this task while

also fitting it on the

existing base.

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Relevant Rules and Parameters Size Requirement

Specification: The robot must be no larger than 18in by 18in by 18in large The arm can

be no larger than 14 by 18 by 18 .

Testing Method: The sizing tool will be used to test the final arm design and any

concept models in Autodesk Inventor will be measured before fabrication.

Why? Robot Rule R4 constrains the dimensions. The current base also constrains the

dimensions of the arm. The height of base is four inches tall. To comply with rule R4 we

must

have a

lift no

larger

than 14

inches.

Materials Restriction

Specification: We must construct the arm solely out of Vex parts or Vex legal parts

Testing Method: Comparing the parts list to legal Vex parts

Why? Rules R5 and R 6 limit the materials to only Vex parts. We cannot use any non-vex

parts sold from non-Vex resellers.

There are some parts that do not follow this rule. Any Identical parts can be used as

well. These exceptions are defined in rule R7. Any IDENTICAL Vex part can be used.

There is also the option to use polycarbonate to build. Identical Electrical Non-Vex parts

are not allowed. We are allowed to use screws like cap head screws, and identical parts

like Teflon washers.

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Height requirement

Specification: The lift must be able to reach the goals in the game and score cubes on

top of them

Testing Method: A tape measure will be used to measure the final design and all

concept models will be measured.

Why? Since the highest goal is 47 inches tall and the cubes are 8 in tall so the lift must

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Brainstorming

The Double Reverse

6-Bar

We looked at other robots

in our club for inspiration.

80Y’s double reverse four

bar intrigued us. We

brainstormed a new similar

design.

We analyzed the difference

between a six bar and a

four bar and found that

there was a significant

height difference. This

difference made us wonder

if a double reverse six bar

would have the same

advantage over a double

reverse four bar.

We sketched both double

reverse Six Bars and double

reverse four bars to analyze

the difference.

The height difference was

very evident when two

sketches were drawn side

by side. The double reverse

six bar has a large height

advantage. Because of this

we decided to build a

double reverse 6-bar.

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Designing

Designing the

Double Reverse Six

Bar

When designing the double

reverse Six Bar, we created

a layered drawing. This

drawing broke the design

up into four distinct layers

this helps us build and test

whether the components

will interfere with each

other. The details also help

us streamline the building

process and quickly

assemble the arm.

The layers are all depicted

in the pictures on the right.

The design will use both

high strength motors and

high strength gears to

ensure the lift is durable.

The entire lift is made from

Aluminum to ensure it is

light enough to lift.

We designed one tower

and planned on building

two. The second tower was

a perfect mirror image of

the first one. The two

towers would be connected

with c-channel support bars

and a sync shaft

After we were done

designing, we gathered

materials and prepared to

build.

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Building the Lift

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Failure and Physics After constructing the double reverse 6-bar, we tested it. We ran the motors and the robot began to tip

over before it reached maximum height. It tipped so often that we named it Sir Tipsalot. It became a

serious problem and we decided to investigate into what makes the robot tip and for that we needed to

look at the forces causing the robot to tip over.

To do this, we started by drawing an Free body Diagram of the robot’s center of gravity. That diagram is

below. 𝐹𝑔⃗⃗ ⃗ is the Force of gravity of the robot. 𝐹𝑔⃗⃗ ⃗ = 𝑚𝑔 (m is robot’s mass, g is acceleration due to

gravity). 𝐹𝑥⃗⃗ ⃗ is the force in the x direction. 𝐹𝑥⃗⃗ ⃗ = 𝑚𝑎𝑥⃗⃗⃗⃗ (m is mass, 𝑎𝑥⃗⃗⃗⃗ is acceleration in x direction). S is the

distance between the wheel’s touch point and the center of gravity. Θ is the angle between the Force of

gravity and the line between the center of gravity and the wheel.

The dotted lines

are normal to line

connecting the center of

gravity to the touch

points. For the robot not

to tip, the red

component must be

bigger than the blue

one.

The red line’s magnitude

is defined as:

𝐹𝑔 sin 𝜃 = 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑖𝑛e. The

blue part’s magnitude is

defined as 𝐹𝑥 cos 𝜃 =

𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒. Since the

redline’s magnitude

must be greater than the blue line’s to avoid tipping, 𝐹𝑔 sin𝜃 > 𝐹𝑥 cos 𝜃. After substituting 𝑚𝑎𝑥⃗⃗⃗⃗ in for

𝐹𝑥⃗⃗ ⃗, substituting 𝑚𝑔 in for 𝐹𝑔⃗⃗ ⃗, and solving for acceleration in the x direction, we found our final equation.

𝑔 tan 𝜃 > 𝑎𝑥

The acceleration due to gravity multiplied by the tangent of the angle from the touch point to

the center of gravity must be greater than the acceleration in the X direction for the robot not to tip

over. Due to the double reverse 6-bar’s weight distribution, the center of gravity constantly moved. The

center gravity often hung over the back of the wheels so any acceleration in the x direction would be

greater than the tangent of the angle times the acceleration due to gravity. Basically, both the design’s

geometry and weight distribution caused the tipping. The physics revealed that major changes would be

needed to prevent tipping

After a long debate, we decided to redesign a new mechanism because we thought the

problems were too severe to fix without scrapping the whole thing.

𝐹𝑥⃗⃗ ⃗

𝐹𝑔⃗⃗ ⃗

θ

θ

90 - θ

Center of Gravity

Wheel

S

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The PantaGraph THE PANTAGRAPH

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The Problem Since our double reverse six bar was a complete

failure, we needed to redesign a lift system. We

reanalyzed the game and redefined our problem.

Rob and Miranda noticed that this year’s game

Skyrise closely resembled an older game, Gateway. There

was a similar scoring method, de-scoring rules, post

owning bonus points and goal heights. The fields also had

a large pile of game elements in a pyramid shape with

other elements scattered around the field. There are a

few differences between the two games but the methods

of scoring points are fundamentally the same.

Since the two games are so

similar, examining previous

successful gateway robots could

help us with our design for

Skyrise. Our team had not been

to a Skyrise competition at this

point in the season but Rob and

Miranda were very experienced

when it came to Gateway.

Keeping the game similarity in

mind, we redefined the

problem.

Updated Problem Statement: We

must create a lifting mechanism

inspired by Gateway to lift game

elements onto the various sized posts

without tipping over.

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Rules and Parameters.

Size Requirement

Specification: The robot must be no larger than 18in by 18in by 18in large The arm can

be no larger than 14 by 18 by 18 .

Testing Method: The sizing tool will be used to test the final arm design and any

concept models in Autodesk Inventor will be measured before fabrication.

Why? Robot Rule R4 constrains the dimensions. The current base also constrains the

dimensions of the arm. The height of base is four inches tall. To comply with rule R4 we

must have a lift no larger than 14 inches.

Height requirement

Specification: The lift must be able to reach all posts and must be high enough to

successfully score on all the goals WITHOUT tipping over.

Testing Method: A tape measure will be used to measure the final design and all

concept models will be measured. The final design will be placed on a field and will

attempt to score goals.

Why? Since the highest goal is 47 inches tall and the cubes are 8 in tall so the lift must

have a reach of 55 inches because to lift the cube on top of the goal, the bottom of the

cube must be higher than the top of the highest post.

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Design Constraint

Specification: The robot must be inspired by a mechanism used in the game Gateway.

Testing Method: We will examine pictures of gateway robots and improve upon the

designs from those robots.

Why? Our old mechanism was inspired by a toss up robot and toss up was a very

different game with much lower goals. The highest gateway goal was 30in tall. Robots

for gateway were designed to reach lofty heights. Any extremely successful design from

that game should also potentially be successful in Skyrise. We will not copy the

mechanism but we will take inspiration only from gateway designs.

Stability requirement

Specification: The lift must be stable and have a stable center of gravity. A lift where the

center of gravity only moves up and down and does not shift left or right would be ideal.

Any particularly back heavy designs like the double reverse 6-bar are not acceptable.

Testing Method: To test this we will run the robot and see if it tips over and we will

guestimate the center of gravity in any of our designs.

Why? We want our lift to refrain from tipping over during game play and we do not

want it to fail like Sir Tipsalot failed. We want to incorporate the stability into the overall

design because it is a crucial aspect.

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Design and Inspiration

Our inspiration

Three years ago Miranda

designed and built a special

scissor lift for Gateway. The

final height of her design

was an astonishing 5ft tall.

Her original inspiration for

the design was an episode

of the show “How its

Made”. On the show,

collapsible room dividers

were created using a

special scissor lift called a

pantograph. Miranda was

inspired by this design and

created the gigantic robot

seen in the picture on the

bottom right. Her robot

was taller than she was.

That robot competed in

Gateway and attended the

Vex Robotics World

Championship in 2012. It

was a surprisingly stable

design. It was very

effective at playing

Gateway and won multiple

tournaments in the

Pennsylvania region.

We decided an improved

pantograph would be the

best lift solution due to its

stability and success in

Gateway.

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Improving the Old

Design

We kept the main

structural elements from

the old lift design but we

improved the lifting

mechanism by making it

lighter and more compact.

The top pictures shows the

old robot lifting

mechanism. It was spaced

out and primarily made

from steel. The sync shaft

required many 12 tooth

gears and was fairly

inefficient.

The new lift design is

narrower and lighter.

Unlike the old deign, the

new one uses the new style

of linear slides to propel

the tracks up and down.

The new style is lighter

because only one of the

two components is steel.

The new lift is also more

compact because instead

of a sync shaft, it uses two

60- tooth gears to

synchronize the motors.

The final rack design also

was longer and allowed a

greater range of scissor lift

motion.

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Build Montage

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Failures and Struggles

Failure

The design was tall, refused

to tip over and was fairly

light but it ultimately failed.

The top levels of the scissor

did not extend upwards at

the same rate. This led to

one side raising higher than

the other. The top was

tilted and unstable.

Instead of a tipping

problem we had a tilting

problem. On top of the tilt,

some of the bars in the

lower sections began to

bend. We tried multiple

solutions to stop the

bending and tilting. All

failed.

Eventually we removed

over half of the scissor

levels severely shortening

the reach. We eliminated

the bending but we limited

our reach to the short goals

Our lift was almost identical

to the one Miranda built in

Gateway. We wondered

why our lift failed because

the previous design worked

perfectly.

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Investigating Material Properties

After the failure of our lift, we decided to examine the

pictures of Miranda’s old Scissor to see if there were

any differences between the two. We observed that

the metal Miranda’s scissor was constructed from was

slightly different than our current Aluminum. We

closely examined the aluminum in our box and

realized there were two distinct types of aluminum:

old aluminum and new aluminum. Our scissor was

made from the new aluminum but the Gateway

scissor was made from the old Aluminum. We

investigated the material properties of the New and

old Aluminum by preforming tensile strength tests on

a special material properties testing machine found in

Miranda and Sarah’s high school. They tested the

tensile strength of old and new Aluminum. The stress

strain curve is displayed below:

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A Stress Strain curve shows the elongation when a part is subjected to a force. It

We analyzed the stress strain curve for the yield strengths, the ultimate strengths, the strains at break

and the strain at the yield. We compared those points on both the old and New Aluminum Alloys. These

results are displayed in the table below.

New Aluminum Old Aluminum % difference

Yield Strength (ksi) 20.9 22.6 -7.5%

Ultimate Strength (ksi) 27.1 30.5 -11.1%

Strain at Break (in/in) 0.91 0.6 51.7%

Strain at Yield (in/in) 0.24 0.29 -17.2%

It is plain to see that the only advantage New Aluminum has over old Aluminum is that it

stretches 51% longer before it breaks. Otherwise, the old Aluminum preformed much better than the

new. Could this be the source of our failure?

We decided to investigate and discover the old aluminum’s exact alloy. Based on the published

alloy for the new Aluminum (5052 H32) we determined that the old aluminum is 5086 H32. A table

displaying the differences between the two is below.

Aluminum Alloy

Price Amount Yield Stress (psi)

% diff Ultimate Stress (psi)

5052 H32 Aluminum Sheet $ 5.72 1x1 sheet 28000 33000

5086 H32 Aluminum sheet $ 6.16 1x1 sheet 30000 7.14% 42000

So there is a distinct difference between the old and new Aluminum. We found the old aluminum is

superior to the new. Knowing this we found bars of old aluminum and replaced the top half of our

scissor with the Old bars.

Combining the new bars with The old bars allowed us to build more levels and achieve greater heights.

Now our robot is five skyrises tall. It still was not tall enough to achieve all our goals, but it was a start.

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The Skyrise Claw THE SKYRISE CLAW

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The Problem

After we built a lift, we needed a mechanism to

score. We decided to focus on building Skyrises

because Skyrises seemed the best possible way

to efficiently score the most points.

Each Skyrise section is worth 4 points and

each cube on the Skyrise is worth 4 points. Since

the Skyrise is close to the starting tile, building

Skyrises is an easy way to score points in the

autonomous period. This is important to us

because there is a 10 point autonomous point

bonus and that bonus can sway the match

significantly.

Our current lift configuration is perfect

for Skyrise building. The linear motion of the

scissor lift is perfect for nesting the Skyrises and

for removing them from the Skyrise holders. This

is because the front of the scissor lift travels up

and down within the same plane. This keeps any

front mechanism from traveling forwards and

backwards. In other lift designs like 8-bar

linkages, the manipulator travels forwards when

raised. The arm travels in an arc instead of a

straight line. The scissor travels in a line making it

perfect for delivering Skyrise sections to the base

no matter what the height.

The current base design does not move

in any direction. This is a problem for Skyrise

building because it would need to turn to move a

Skyrise from the holder to the base. This problem

can be avoided if our grasping mechanism can

swing and reach both the Skyrise and the holder

without moving the base

PROBLEM STATEMENT: After analyzing the

scoring opportunities we decided our grasper

must score Skyrises while the base remains

stationary.

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Relevant Parameters

Size requirement.

Specification: The robot must be no larger than 18in by 18in by 18in large The

manipulator can be no larger than 18 long by 5 wide by 12 tall

Testing Method: The sizing tool will be used to test the final arm design and any

concept models will be measured before fabrication.

Why? Robot Rule R4 constrains the dimensions. The current base and arm also

constrain the dimensions of the manipulator The width of base is 14 in wide. To comply

with the rule the manipulator must stick out no farther than 4 inches past the edge of

the base

Reach requirement

Specification: The lift must be able to reach all posts and must be high enough to

successfully score on all the goals WITHOUT tipping over.

Testing Method: A tape measure will be used to measure the final design and all

concept models will be measured. The final design will be placed on a field and will

attempt to score goals.

Why? Since the highest goal is 47 inches tall and the cubes are 8 in tall so the lift must

have a reach of 55 inches because to lift the cube on top of the goal, the bottom of the

cube must be higher than the top of the highest post.

Grasping requirement

Specification: The claw must be at least 3.5 inches wide and long.

Testing Method: A tape measure will be used to measure the dimensions. All to scale

drawings and models must meet this specification.

Why? The largest Skyrise piece section has a diameter of 3.13 in. We need our claw to

be a bit larger than that to accommodate for any misalignment. 3.25 in gives us a bit of

wiggle room when grasping the sections

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Brainstorming

Brainstorming the

Claw

We brainstormed a

swinging skyrise arm design

with a linear slide grasper

and claw made from forty

fie degree angle brackets.

The whole claw will be

mounted on the scissor. A

motor with a 12 tooth gear

will turn the 36 tooth gear

connected to the end of the

manipulator. This will

sweep the sweep back and

forth and allow us to pick

up skyrises with ease.

The liner slide grasping

mechanism ensures the

skyrise is grabbed and will

not tilt in transit. It also

allow one side of the

grasper to remain open.

This will make clamping

onto the skyrises easier.

The drawings to the right

show each claw layer in

detail.

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Building the Skyrise Sweeper

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The New Scissor Lift

THE NEW SCISSOR

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The New Scissor

After successfully winning

the design Award at the

Pennslyvania State

championships, we decided

to redesign the scissor lift.

We used the same criteria

and problem statement as

before only this time we

tried to think outside the

box.

We decided to design a c-

channel 1x25 hybrid scissor

lift because we believed a

hybrid lift would be more

stable than any other

design. We also used bering

blocks and lock nuts at each

connection point to

stabilize the lift.

We designed an

screwheadless bearing

block system to minimize

interference while lifting. It

involves wedging two

Bering blocks, piece of

plastic nut bar and a spacer

between the inside walls of

a c-channel. A standoff

coupler is screwed through

the entire bar. This creates

a solid Bering block

connection with no screw

heads on the outside.

We created this lift and

built an entirely new (yet

almost identical) robot

around it.

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Building the New Scissor

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