Take center stage with theatrical flair and technical prowess. This season combined pixel placement with drone launching, requiring both delicate manipulation and powerful mechanisms.
Overview
Built on a mecanum "strafer" drivetrain for fast, agile movement, this robot’s headline mechanism is a trebuchet-inspired pivoting arm and 3D-printed claw that scores two pixels at once on the backdrop, paired with a grappling-hook climbing mechanism and a compact elastic-band drone launcher.
Strengths
- +Dual-pixel claw scores two game pieces per cycle, maximizing points per trip to the backdrop
- +Shaft-driven arm pivot is more consistent and needs less maintenance than the earlier dual-servo design it replaced
- +Grappling-hook climb is lightweight and mechanically simpler than a dual-arm pull-up system would have been
Tradeoffs
- –Elastic-band drone launcher is less consistent than a flywheel design and needed empirical tuning to find a reliable launch window
- –Early linear-slide lift suffered chain magnetization and uneven lowering before a surgical-tubing counterweight fixed it
- –Motor-port and space constraints ruled out more capable designs (a scissor lift, a multi-axis arm, a dual-arm hang) the team would have preferred
Subsystem Breakdown
Drivetrain
GoBilda mecanum wheels on a strafer-kit chassis give fast strafing and diagonal movement. Components are bracket-mounted at an angle to resist the inertia from quick accelerations.
Arm & Claw
A trebuchet-style pivoting arm carries a 3D-printed dual-pixel claw. The pivot moved from a servo-driven, dual-pivot-point design (which bent under uneven loading) to a single ultra-planetary hex-motor shaft for more torque, consistent rotation, and speed.
Climbing Hook
A cut-down carabiner grappling hook, held by velcro and raised on a winch-spooled braided string, lifts the robot off the ground at endgame — sized to comfortably lift a robot well under its calculated ~13 kg capacity.
Drone Launcher
A compact, elastic-band-powered plane launcher, chosen after weighing flywheel, elastic, and mechanical-arm designs against the team’s remaining space, weight, and motor-port budget — tuned to a reliable 4.0–4.3 ft launch range at a 60° angle.