2018-19 season
Robot name origin: The character Bing Bong from the Pixar movie Inside Out. It’s a long story.
Armed with the knowledge from my first year, I was determined to push myself further into the unknown and reach the next level: the World Championship.
This year’s challenge already seemed to be harder than stacking cones from last season. It involved launching balls at flags, which required more precision (official game video is here). More than intimidating, I saw it as a chance to try some brand new ideas and designs.
Notable subsystems and specs:
- 2 motor 3600 RPM flywheel to launch balls
- Limit switch sensor ball indexing and management system.
- Allowed Bing Bong to automatically “lock-and-load” balls. So all I had to do as the driver was press a button to immediately launch a ball.
- 4-motor 6-wheel, chained, friction-banded powertrain
- Beefy so Bing Bong could stand its ground against defensive plays
- Tradeoff was speed, but having a strong powertrain was especially important in maintaining control of the high yellow platform (see gif below)
I also learned more about autonomous driving.
Cool upside of this was scoring high enough in the autonomous driving Skills challenge that we qualified for the World Championship 😎. Truly an unforgettable experience, and I knew I’d have to come back every year.