Robot Prototypes Finished

Here are two videos of our finished robots. These are just the first fully functional prototypes of that we have.

Both look very promising!

Research started

The research project this year is very open, so we don't have any particular ideas, but we have done some background research. Last week, we talked to Joseph Shultz, who is a legislative assistant for our senator. His specialty is in the field of energy and climate change. We found out lots of general information from him about climate change. One thing that we learned was that the term global warming is incorrect to use. This is because in some areas of the world the climate is warming, but in others it is cooling.

Synchro Drive

Our team had one other idea for a robot platform. The idea was a synchro drive. This type of robot allows the top of the robot to face the same position at all times, but it can still drive in all directions. Below is our start at a synchro drive robot platform.

This is a link to a youtube movie that is not by us that also tells how a synchro drive works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL6xx6DDZ9o

Six Wheel Robot Design

Last meeting we brainstormed ideas for different robot platforms. One idea that a team member had was a six wheel robot. Six wheels would provide more stability and would allow it to conquer rough terrain. The below video was taken of a six wheel robot prototype. It is a very basic design and is in development.

Ideas about missions

Our team brainstormed ideas and came up with the following ideas:

Elevate the House

We thought that we should do more then one aspect of the house mission at once.


Research Area

A ramp could work to get items into the research area


Levees

An idea for the levees would be to use a wall to hold the existing ones in place, or use the placable levees to block the wheel.

Engineering Notebook

This year, we thought it would be a good idea to start an enginnering notebook to keep track of different ideas and thoughts. We did some research and found a format that would fit our purpose. The whole team started entering into the notebook the first time we worked on the robot. We have been updating it everytime we work on the robot or have an idea on the robot ince then. It has been useful to us so far.