2020-21 Robot Design (Albie)

Our current robot design for the 2020-21 season Ultimate Goal is called Albie. The robot uses a mecanum drive, has a drop down intake, a 3D printed launching mechanism and a wobble goal grabbing arm. All parts are custom design by our team. 

2016-2017 ACME Robot Design

This season the Roadrunner IV robot has the following capabilities:

• Autonomous period: Average 90+ pts
• Press both beacons (60 pts)
• Shoot 2 particles (30 pts)
• Park in corner or center (5 pts)
• Displace cap ball (5 pts)
• ​TeleOp Period: Average 30 pts
• Particle Launcher magazine: 5 particle capacity
• Mecanum wheels for omni-directional movement
• Beacon pushing
• End Game: Average 20 pts
• 10 pt cap ball lift, by pressing ball against wall 
• Beacon press

Rear view of 2017 robot

Particle Launcher

The particle shooter is located on the rear of the robot. Balls are picked up through the intake in the front and loaded into the magazine. From there, a servo-actuated trigger pushes the balls up between the launcher wheels to fire. Both of the launcher wheels are 3D-printed and driven using 4:1 gearboxes.

Beacon Pusher

The beacon pusher is located on the side of the robot at the top center. The pusher includes both a color sensor and a linear potentiometer. The color sensor allows the robot to determine the color of the beacon during autonomous, and the linear potentiometer allows the robot to determine the position of the pusher.

Additionally, an ultrasonic sensor is located on the lower left. This allows the robot to measure the distance to the wall and use a PID controller to maintain a fixed distance during autonomous.

Right side of 2017 Robot

Intake mechanism for 2017 robot

Particle Intake

The particle intake is located on the front of the robot.

We use a 20:1 motor to turn a surgical tubing based intake sweeper. Once picked up, the balls slide into the magazine in the back of the robot for launching. The sweeper is very effective and allows the robot to quickly gather balls from around the playing field.

Bottom of the Robot

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We use four 20:1 motors to drive the mecanum wheels. Mecanum wheels provide omni-directional motion for the robot. Additionally, all of the drive motors have encoders that allow the robot software to accurately set their speed. 

An IMU is also located in the center of the robot. This sensor gives orientation data for all three axes; this is used for accurate turning and corner vortex park detection.

Bottom of 2017 Robot

Here’s a match from the 2017 NorCal Regional Championships that exemplifies Roadrunner IV’s capabilities:

Roadrunner3 from First Res-Q

RoadRunner III (2016)

RoadRunner 3 was designed for the First Res-Q competition in 2015-2016 season. The robot was designed with a lifting bucket to pick up the ball and blocks from the arena and deposit into the baskets.

RoadRunner III also had a dual beacon pusher and during autonomous, could determine which button to press using color sensors.​

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RoadRunner II (2014)

RoadRunner II (2015)

For the most part, the strategy of the Roadrunner 2 is similar to that of the Roadrunner 1; however, some changes were made to the robot’s design. To increase the robot’s maneuverability, the team replaced the two omni wheels with another set of drive wheels, while still keeping the 2:1 gear ratio that made the robot so fast. Also, to replace the Roadrunner 1’s foam core shell, the team fashioned an acrylic shell that covered both the top and the bottom of the robot.

As far as software modification, the Roadrunner 2 featured a new TeleOp program. This program featured a background task that gradually revved up the motors in order to improve their lifespan. The program also added a feature that allows the driver to reduce the maximum speed of the motors so that more precise movements of the robot can be made.

Here are some videos of RoadRunner II in action: