Designing the Corn Cob Aligner

By Ethan and Abhi

Task: Design an aligner for the beater bar intake

The ice cube tray is 9 holes wide and each hole is 16.50mm wide and long. Using these measurements, we created an aligner that would cause the ice cube tray to roll into a cylinder.

We're designing an intake that will allow the robot to intake particles, and this is a major portion. This will allow us to increase the amount of friction put on the particles, allowing for a more secure grip.

However, this system has issues. First, we wanted the edges to still be mildly compliant, and this wheel filled out the edge rows to full depth, making them a little too tough. Plus, they made the silicone height too variable, so that we couldn't solely pick up the balls. So, we designed a second aligner with shorter spokes so that the edges would be fully compliant while still being held securely.

Next Steps

We need to finish up the corn-cob beater bar, but after that we'll be able to start testing.