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Duckbots!

Team Members

  • Lotta Blumberg (MIT '18) - Mech/EE
  • Elizabeth Chang-Davidson (MIT '19) - Mech
  • Amanda Fike (MIT '19) - Mech/EE
  • Gilbert Gutierrez (MIT '19) - Software
  • Pravina Samaratunga (MIT '18) - Software

Acheivements

1/6 - Our little baby robot took its first steps, upside down. That's right, the motors are working! A victory for EE and Software!

1/7 - An apparatus for collecting the blocks into the robot has been tested. We may have blown a fuse, but hey, the fuse works!

1/7 - The CAD is done! After a solid week of modelling, our amazing MechE lead did it! The plan is to build this design in the lab on Friday.

1/11 - Robot version 1 assembled.

1/14 - Robot version 2 ("Waddles," later renamed to "Violent Asibot"), assembled.

1/19 - Electrical wiring essentially finished.

1/25 - Got second place in mock competition using a wall-follow and violent jerk strategy.

1/26 - All software modules in place, and ready for debugging.

Supplementary Materials

Github Repository

Folder of CAD Screenshots

Software Overview

The high-level logic runs a state machine with the following modules, each of which may timeout:

  • FOLLOW: Search for the blocks.
  • CHECK: See what color an obtained block is.
  • PICKUP: Pickup the block via conveyor belt.
  • DROPOFF: Drop off the stack that has been built.

The following data should interrupt the standard routines:

  • The collection motors stall (i.e., a block is stuck in the collection mechanism.)
    • In this case, "spit" out the stuck block.

The FOLLOW Module:

  • Move in some direction for some amount of time.
  • Jerk pseudorandomly and repeat.
  • Intake motors are always running.
  • Exit when block limit switch is activated.

Possible Failure modes:

  • No longer actually looks for a block. We might never obtain a block. This is unlikely, and frankly a design choice.

The CHECK module:

  • Checks that we have the right color block, and if not, spits it out.

The PICKUP Module:

This module launches when a block is sensed using the color sensor, interrupting the FIND process.

  • Initially, store the current encoder value and tell the motors to move the conveyor belt up.
  • Until the belt reaches the max encoder limit (+ the base value), continue to move upwards.
  • Stop the belt for a brief amount of time.
  • Move the belt downwards until either the encoder value is less than the base encoder value, or the conveyor belt limit switch is triggered.

After these have all been completed in that order, either the FIND module or DROPOFF module is triggered, depending on how many blocks are in the stack.

The DROPOFF Module:

This module opens the back door and drives forward after the PICKUP module has been completed 4 times.