Coming to a Halt

Today, RoboGym is working on the wiring for the drivetrain.

In the background of the above photo, you will see a second drivetrain. This drivetrain is made for our second robot, since we are constructing two robots this season. No robotics team is required to build a second robot, but RoboGym has decided to build one. Once competitions begin, no team is allowed to change any aspect of their competition robot. So, by creating an identical second robot that will not compete, we can make changes, practice driving, and edit programming on that robot. These changes are allowed to be taken off the noncompeting robot and taken in to competitions, where we can attach the new mechanisms or pieces to the competing robot and edit its coding.

Zoomed in: Wiring for the competition robot

Our CAD sub-team is currently CADing the braker. The braker is the part of the robot that stops the elevator from descending. The elevator is used to lift the other two robots in our alliance. We will lift the other robots in the final few seconds of the competition, when the robots need to climb onto a 12-inch platform, gaining 30 points per robot that climbs to the top. In order to lift the robots, our team is using an elevator mechanism. However, once the elevator lifts the other robots, it may start to descend because of the weight on top of it. So, the braker is needed to stop the elevator from going back down once it lifts all the robots.