[artdutra04]

This year we're actually working on three robots: a prototype robot, a practice robot, and the competition robot.

The prototype robot was assembled, wired, and programmed entirely on our first meeting out of Kitbot parts and serves two purposes: give the programming team time to figure out sensors, drive code, autonomous, etc on a real robot, and provide a modular base chassis for us to prototype mechanism ideas on. Prototypes mounted on it have been built out of Kitbot parts, 80/20 parts, Vex parts, and whatever else we have lying around.

After all of the subsystems have been proven using prototypes on the prototype robot, we then move onto designing the entire final robot in SolidWorks. Once the design is done, we split up all the parts to a variety of different sources, including sponsors and our team machine shop, so we can have parts back faster. We also do this to incorporate a number of different fabrication techniques, to show our students different ways ideas can become reality.

Once the parts have been made, we assemble the functionally identical practice and competition robots almost concurrently, although the competition robot usually lags behind the practice robot by a few days due to powder-coating lead times.