Cooperative+Golf+ball+Maze

Cooperative Golf Ball Maze

Objective: Our task was to create a robot that would follow the black line to the three golf balls, pick them up, and then deliver them back to the starting place (the square in the middle of the board). This task is interactive: our other team members were in charge of building the other robot that would pick up our golf balls and deliver them to their final destination.

Initial Design: We set out to create a robot with claws that would pick up the golf balls at once. We built the standard base for the robot and attached the motor in the center so that there would be no net torque. We attached the claws to each side of the motor and secured both sides. Here is a picture of our finalized design: Front view

Side view

Day 1 We had some troubles deciding where to put the motor/claw system. We added light sensors under the robot. At first, we started out without a back wheel and realized that the robot was dragging too much, so we added one.

Day 2 We started programming. We switched our design so that the motor/claw system rested in the center (as seen in the photos above). The design was much more stable. We had to change the program and altered the turns. We encountered a problem with our light sensing. So, we realized that we had to move the light sensors closer to the claws so that the robot would stop before knocking into the golf balls and knocking them off of their stands without picking them up.

Day 3 We changed the program a lot because the track was moved and the light sensors needed adjustments. We also built a wall because we encountered the problem of the golf balls falling out of the claws and out of the robot. Here is our wall:

Day 4-5 We were not in class

Day 6 We got the robot working and did a trial. We successfully delivered one ball.