Now...Onto the Robot

With plans to finish the field today, our team is grappling with ideas on how to build our robot. Our CAD (computer-aided design) sub-team is currently working on designs for intake. CAD is what our team uses to create the robot on a computer, before we construct it in real life. Intake is the terminology for obtaining the 11x13 cubes used in competition, one task our robot needs to fulfill before build season is over.

This intake mechanism utilizes top rollers. These top rollers come into contact with a cube, and push the cube into the empty space of the mechanism, or the intake box. The rollers do this by spinning while touching the top of a cube, which sends the cube into the intake box.

The CAD sub-team has also prototyped side and back roller intake mechanisms, changing the location of the rollers. The intake sub-team has brought the CAD sub-team's vision to life by constructing the side roller intake mechanism. They are building the side roller intake mechanism to test its efficiency, and to potentially use this mechanism if it proves to be a good fit for the challenge of obtaining boxes.