Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
16 Antweight Battlebot - Blade Blade
Jack Tipping
Patrick Mugg
Sam Paone
presentation1.pptx
# Ant-weight Battlebot - Blade Blade

Team Members:
- Jack Tipping jacket2
- Samuel Paone spaone2
- Patrick Mugg pmugg2

# Problem

Describe the problem you want to solve and motivate the need.
We don’t have a problem, but other teams will when they see our lightweight battle bot. However, we must keep in mind certain design limitations to be eligible for competition, such as the mechanism remaining under 2 pounds. The battle bot must have a balance of being indestructible, lightweight, offensive, and long-lasting in terms of robot “cardio” (motors).

# Solution

Describe your design at a high level, how it solves the problem, and introduce the subsystems of your project.

Our design will consist of a sturdy body for our bot, which has a circular saw that has the ability to not only spin, but also lift vertically. This will allow us to damage our opponent and also exploit their bot's weaknesses, depending on the flaws in their design. An initial component list is a 3d printed chassis, an ESP32 microcontroller, two wheels with two associated motors, two motors for the weapon, which is a saw in the front that rotates and lifts up connected over GPIO.


# Solution Components

## MCU
We will use an ESP32 microcontroller. The primary benefit is that it has integrated WIFI and Bluetooth. This will allow us to add custom telemetry to our laptop to control our bot. Such as controlling the motor speed, raising our wheel to flip the opponent's bot, or cutting our power as a fail-safe. The ESP32 has plenty of peripheral support. There are many PWM outputs, so we can directly drive multiple items. There are ADC inputs that will make it easy to read battery voltage, or any potential sensors we may have. It provides everything I mentioned, and is also very compact and doesn’t use much power.

## The Chassis
For the project, we have access to 3d printing with 5 different types of plastics. The options are PET, PETG, ABS, PLA, and PLA+. After some research and evaluating tradeoffs, we are going to opt for PETG and ABS. PETG tends to be lighter and stronger than PET and is also easier to build with and more flexible than ABS. Because of this, it is optimal for the chassis. For the saw itself, the build will be done with ABS since manufacturing defects are not as important as being lightweight and strong.

## Power Unit and Motors
We plan to use a 12V Brushed DC Gear Motor with a 37mm gearbox and an RPM of 45. Obviously limits our batteries to 12v unless some other circuit is involved. Evaluating 12v batteries, we find that I should use a 3S LiPo with size to be determined based on the final weight of the battle bot (~500mA). We may opt for a higher rpm motor for the saw, focusing on torque for now.

## Drive Unit
Dual H bridge with motors listed above. Only two wheels/dual so we can have reverse/forward while saving weight (vs having more wheels with the same number of motors with less maneuverability).

## Saw Spin Unit
When it comes to our weapon, it is going to be a tombstone design with a saw instead of an inanimate object that randomly rotates. It’s going to be hooked to the high rpm motor (Adafruit DC Motor), and on the lift side, we are debating between a 4th motor or an air-compressed part. This is also an optional feature.

## Additional Sensor
We will also have a heat sensor to monitor if the motors are being overworked; if they are, we can avoid “engine failure” and lose the competition by temporarily immobilizing.

# Criterion For Success

Our high-level goals are to complete this class with an antweight battle bot that maneuvers well with two wheels, has a robust chassis, a weapon that is saw-like that rotates using a motor, in addition to being able to flip opponents, the robot should be able to be controlled over Bluetooth/wifi, and ideally, we do well in the competition.


Bone Conduction Lock

Alexander Lee, Brandon Powers, Ramon Zarate

Featured Project

A lock that is unlocked using vibrations conducted through the bones in the user’s hand. The user wears a wristband containing a haptic motor. The haptic motor generates a vibration signal that acts as the "key" to the lock. When the user touches their finger to the lock, the signal is transmitted through the user’s hand and is received at the lock. If the lock receives the correct "key", then it unlocks.

Project Videos