Driving That Robot

By Evan, Darshan

Task: To try out the robot in a competition setting

Last weekend Darshan and I tried to drive the robot in a small scrimmage with eight other teams. Even though we hit a few bumps along the competition we were able see how the robot drove and handled. We also saw what we could do easily and what was hard for us. Among the bumps was an incident involving a tread falling off the track because we hit a block at a bad angle. The other bump that happened in the second round was when our robot turned itself off because one of the chains got near the power switch and rubbed it the other way. The things we learned were that there is a small delay between the command and the controller and what we could do on the field. At our stage we can push blocks and get up on the midway zone. We also were able to hit the first lever and make one guy drop. We still have a way to go but with what we know now, we can solve our problems with the system.

Reflections

During the scrimmage we hit a few easily fixable bumps. We are already working on side shields to protect the treads and a bit of something to space out the distance to add space between the chain and the power switch. We are slowly progressing ad should have these issues fixed within the next few practices. As we continue to add new attactchments and overall increase the capabilities of our robot, we also need to increase our driving practice. This will help us perfect our strategy for competition and give us a better chance to win.