Prototyping the ramp for the intake system

By Jayesh, Omar, Ethan, Evan

Task: Make a physical prototype to plan out the next step in our ball/block intake system

We held a post-Thanksgiving meet to focus on the mechanical side of our robot, as we had been devoting a majority of our time to software and other such things. The problem we faced with our beater bar being installed on two sliding extrusions is that we had to have an incline adjusted to going up two levels and not just one like we had last year. Using an old soda box, we were able to make a flat, tin rectangle and experimented in angle and material until we found a comfortable range for the intake ramp. We will make a more permanent ramp, most likely out of a polycarbonate sheet, soon, now that we have our measurements.

Reflections

Using a prototype before making our actual materials helps us to minimize error as we improve our robot. This simplistic design of a ramp allowed us to experiment and adjust our design until we had reached a desirable range. Our idea for our more permanent final design is to use two pieces, similar to the polycarbonate we use for our border walls, and have it elevate with our beater bar. The bottom piece will be only connected to the base and the top piece. With the flexibility of this plastic, we can make our desired curve and incline for our balls to travel up the intake system. Our next step, after finalizing our design for the ramp, is to make our collection device for the balls/blocks and make that available for us to obtain more points on the way up the ramp. This brings us closer to our eventual goal of scoring as we go up the ramp.