Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
11 Antweight Combat Robot
 Ryan Middendorf
 Michael Molter proposal1.pdf
Antweight Combat Robot

Team Members:

Ryan Middendorf (ryanjm8),
David Kapelyan (davidik2)

Problem

The constraints for Professor Gruev’s competition are as follows:

Must weigh less than 2 lbs
Must be 3D printed in PET(G), ABS, or PLA(+)
Must have controlled movement
Must be controlled over bluetooth or wifi by a PC
Must have a fighting tool to use against other bots
The main challenges involved in this are making a custom control solution and designing a combat robot that will not only survive the 2 minute matches but actually win them by immobilizing the other robot.


Solution

To meet these constraints, we plan to create a custom PCB that contains 3 brushless electronic speed controllers (ESCs) to control the drive and weapon motors and uses a microcontroller to communicate with a PC over bluetooth and control the robot. For the actual robot design we plan to build a vertical spinner which usually performs best in this weight class. The "tool" will be spun by a brushless motor, and so will both sides drive wheels.

Subsystem 1 - Custom PCB and Power

Our first subsystem will be the custom PCB. It has to contain 3 brushless ESCs and interface with a bluetooth enabled microcontroller such as an ESP32 or STM32 that will receive instructions from a PC and turn them into usable PWM signals for the ESCs. It will also have to be powered by a LiPo battery through an XC30 connector and include an integrated screw switch so the robot can be turned on and off simply and safely.

Subsystem 2 - Drive train

Our second subsystem will be the drive train. Our robot will be driven by 2 brushless motors, 1 on each side. Each motor will drive 2 wheels that are connected by a belt so the robot will have a simplified 4 wheel drive in a tank drive configuration.

Subsystem 3 - Weapon/Tool Assembly

Our third subsystem will be the weapon/tool assembly. Our tool will be a robust vertical spinner, most likely a drum/eggbeater style. This type of tool has a lot of success in combat robotics due to its ability to dissipate the force of hitting an opponent into the floor very efficiently. This will be driven by a substantially larger brushless motor than the drive system so it can deliver much more powerful hits.

Subsystem 4 - Chassis

Our fourth subsystem will be the chassis. The chassis has to be very robust and able to withstand all the damage that will be dealt to it throughout a match. It also has to be able to contain all the electronics and prevent them from being damaged. The chassis will be 3D printed out of one of the approved materials listed above but most likely PLA+.

Subsystem 5 - Controlling from PC

Our fifth and final subsystem will be how our robot is controlled by a PC. This will be a program run locally on a PC that takes keyboard inputs and transforms them into instructions that are sent to the microcontroller inside the robot to control it.

Criterion for Success

We would consider our project a success if we are able to communicate with the robot from our computer and successfully drive it around the arena during a match. The commands sent from the pc need to be processed by the microcontroller and the motors need to be powered properly and behave correctly during a match. The robot will also have to be able to shut itself off if the bluetooth gets disconnected for some reason.

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Alexander Hardiek, Saanil Joshi, Ganpath Karl

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Featured Project

Partners: Alexander Hardiek (ahardi6), Saanil Joshi (stjoshi2), and Ganpath Karl (gkarl2)

Project Description: We have decided to innovate a low cost wind turbine to help the villagers of El Durazno in Guatemala access water from mountains, based on the pitch of Prof. Ann Witmer.

Problem: There is currently no water distribution system in place for the villagers to gain access to water. They have to travel my foot over larger distances on mountainous terrain to fetch water. For this reason, it would be better if water could be pumped to a containment tank closer to the village and hopefully distributed with the help of a gravity flow system.

There is an electrical grid system present, however, it is too expensive for the villagers to use. Therefore, we need a cheap renewable energy solution to the problem. Solar energy is not possible as the mountain does not receive enough solar energy to power a motor. Wind energy is a good alternative as the wind speeds and high and since it is a mountain, there is no hindrance to the wind flow.

Solution Overview: We are solving the power generation challenge created by a mismatch between the speed of the wind and the necessary rotational speed required to produce power by the turbine’s generator. We have access to several used car parts, allowing us to salvage or modify different induction motors and gears to make the system work.

We have two approaches we are taking. One method is converting the induction motor to a generator by removing the need of an initial battery input and using the magnetic field created by the magnets. The other method is to rewire the stator so the motor can spin at the necessary rpm.

Subsystems: Our system components are split into two categories: Mechanical and Electrical. All mechanical components came from a used Toyota car such as the wheel hub cap, serpentine belt, car body blade, wheel hub, torsion rod. These components help us covert wind energy into mechanical energy and are already built and ready. Meanwhile, the electrical components are available in the car such as the alternator (induction motor) and are designed by us such as the power electronics (AC/DC converters). We will use capacitors, diodes, relays, resistors and integrated circuits on our printed circuit boards to develop the power electronics. Our electrical components convert the mechanical energy in the turbine into electrical energy available to the residents.

Criterion for success: Our project will be successful when we can successfully convert the available wind energy from our meteorological data into electricity at a low cost from reusable parts available to the residents of El Durazno. In the future, their residents will prototype several versions of our turbine to pump water from the mountains.