Approach
Design & Manufacuring

• The robot design started with keeping robot weight as minimum as possible and also keeping centre of gravity as low as possible which allows for swift control of the robot.

• Robot required fine manufacturing as slippage could result improper maneuver. Aluminum was proper system frame design as it is light weight and aluminum wedling can be precisely achieved with fixtures. 

• Motor hubs were designed and manufactured using precise CNC machining.

• On-board mechanism was built using inhouse pneumatic bottles capable of 6 ATM pressure and various pneumatic componenets such as peumatic pistons, pressure gauge, one-way, flow control valves, etc. were used.

Control

• System was built with 8 inch Omni wheels paired with 12V 2000RPM DC motors from Cytron as it had very precise encoder. 

• Arduino Due was used for control of the robot. PS3 remote was used for wireless control using PS module of arduino that 50ms connection latency.

• Motors were controlled using 12V capacitive motor drivers that paired perfectly with motors with regenrative breaking which increased system on time.

• Lithium Polymer batteries were used for powering the robot as they are light weight and capable of decharging current fast if robot requires that.

• On-Board electronics were mounted using acrylic sheet with anti-static coating to avoid any kind of noise that may arise from system. Mouting was had a rubber base to absorbs shocks and vibrations of robot. 

Challenges faced

• Inertia overthrows: we achieve amost zero slippage but still robot was getting overthrown during sudden stopping or turning. To solve this problem we created a function that compensated for overthrow based on robot velocity and overthrow direction.

Outcome

• Robot was able to perform all types of maneuvers and move in any direction from start position. 

• Robot was able to maneuver at highest speed becoming the fastest kiwi drive the Robocon 2019 competetion. 

Team

I managed this large and interdisciplinary team, it was challenging, but I was able to orchestrate the team's workflow processes effectively. By distributing tasks and assignments across the team, we were able to achieve optimal progress while minimizing delays and ensuring everyone's involvement in the project's success.