Rockwell Innovation in Control

[Foster]

1640 won the award at the Chesapeake Regional for our 7th wheel, multiple field setable autonomous and the "heads up" LED display on the robot. Our co-captain Siri wrote a things we did posting.

From the letter we sent out to our sponsors

In presenting this award, the Judges cited a number of innovative design and control features, including the team’s unconventional approach to mathematics: 6 + 1 = 3.

The robot (DEWBot V) possesses a novel dual-mode drive-train which alternates between a 6-wheel drive tank and a unique 3 wheel drive pivot mode. This is achieved by adding a 7th Wheel at the back center of the robot oriented at right angle to the 6 main drive wheels. When driving normally, the 7th Wheel is held above the playing surface and does not affect driving. When the need to brake or turn quickly arises, however, the Driver can almost instantly drop and activate the 7th Wheel, lifting the rear four traditional wheels off the playing surface. This drive-train provides exceptional agility with intuitive control.

The team designed a field-settable autonomous operation; the programmed mode which controls the robot during the initial 15 seconds of each match. Two switches on DEWBot can be set to provide 6 different autonomous routines, keeping opposing players guessing.

Team 1640 also employs the vision system to detect when the turret’s shooter is aimed at an opponent’s trailer. Blue lights around the turret flash when a target is acquired. The Operator also has a “cry wolf!” button to lead opponents to think DEWBot has a lock on them.