This project was designed with a problem in mind that needed to be solved. The problem that was at hand was a competition in which a 3 lb. robot needed to be designed, manufactured, and tested for the purpose of incapacitating another robot before being incapacitated itself. The robots had three minutes to try to incapacitate each other and if neither succeeded before the time is up the winner is chosen by judges based on aggression, damage done to the opponent, and control.

The design of this project is a horizontal bar spinner that will use the kinetic energy of a spinning metal bar to inflict damage onto the opponent. This design was chosen because of its high damage capabilities, drivability, and it can drive upside down in case it gets flipped over, This design had undergone a wide array of engineering analyses to optimize the weight, the weapon's energy, the structural rigidity of the chassis, and more so that this robot would be as competitive as possible.

Introduction

Figure 2: Device Assembly Before Manufacturing

Figure 1: First Device Sketch

For a deeper look into the design, manufacture, and testing of this project, read through the full report below!

Figure 1: First Sketch of Device

Fall Presentation: Design

Winter Presentation: Construction

Figure 3: Device Assembly After Manufacturing

Figure 4: Completed Device

All of the tests conducted more than met the requirements. Although the test data was not always accurate to the predicted values for a variety of reasons such as the imprecision of the speed test and the electronic replacement test, or the inaccuracy of the predicted blade deflection, the actual test data and predicted data were more than acceptable for competition. The data collected from the electronic replacement time and blade deflection tests instilled confidence that the robot could have the endurance to survive the tournament in those aspects and the straight line speed test offered valuable information that resulted in an improved drive system that was more controllable. 

Table 1: Test results

TESTING

COMPETITION

Gladius v. Super Smash Power

The day before the competition there was some preparation done by thread locking all of the bolts, lubricating the weapon bearings and charging all of the batteries. On the day of the competition, the robot (named Gladius) was registered and checked for safety and weight. Gladius passed all safety checks with a working failsafe, safety clamp, external light to show it was powered on, and a manual power disconnect. Gladius also passed the weigh in with a weight of 2.9 lb. Gladius was also checked for functionality with a quick drive test and weapon spin-up test, which were both successful and did not show any signs of problems.

After registration, a bracket was generated which gave Gladius a first-round bye.

For the first fight Gladius was set to fight Super Smash Power, a lifter bot that had a hard titanium wedge designed to deflect spinning weapons. Unfortunately, during this fight the pulley that transferred power from the motor to Gladius' weapon was destroyed after a big hit which caused for the belt to fall off and get cut by the weapon blade. With no weapon, the fight turned into a pushing-match with Gladius eventually being pushed into the pit which resulted in a loss.

Figure 5: Destroyed Weapon Pulley

Unfortunately, there was not a spare pulley made for this competition as it was assumed that the pulley was made of a solid piece of aluminum and a break like this was not anticipated. After the fight, an effort was made to try and salvage the pulley by packing the inner diameter of the rings with wire shavings and pressing them back onto the pulley.

Gladius v. Noob Tube

Gladius' first fight in the losers' bracket was against the robot Noob Tube, a vertical spinner/full-body spinner robot that has a blade across the length of its cylindrical chassis that was spun as its wheels rotated. With the salvaged pulley, Gladius did have a functional weapon for a while but it did not hold for long and fell apart once again, rendering the weapon disabled. This fight lasted for the full 3 minutes and went to a judges decision who declared Noob Tube as the winner after a split decision. Gladius took many big hits throughout the fight but survived every one of them with minimal damage. The top and bottom plates as well as the modules were marred by Noob Tubes blade and the bolts that kept the weapon shaft together both fell out during the match but no electronic components were damage and the robot was still quite sturdy after the match.

Figure 6: Post-Fight Gladius

In the end, although Gladius did not win any of its fights, it proved to be a very resilient and if not for the pulley problem it could have potentially had a longer run. The two robots that beat Gladius went all the way to the semi-finals with Noob Tube winning the whole event so it's safe to say Gladius was beat by two strong bots!