George Tillinghast, Rebecca Stein, Mike Suriani

Tom Dinetta, Jon Richardson

BattleBots- The Legacy

• BattleBots IQ competition April 2007• Integrate engineering knowledge and

creativity• Contact: Nola Garcia

– BattleBots IQ Program Director

Design Problem:

• To create a battling robot that is both highly maneuverable and formidable in combat.

• Bot can withstand damage and immobilize opponent

Design Requirements:

• Must meet all safety requirements • Must weigh between 60lbs and 120lbs• Must be mobile and remotely controlled• Must protect itself• Must be capable of inflicting damage

Design Wants:

• Invertible

• Tank drive

• Low center of gravity

• Multiple weapons

• Electric motors

Possible Solutions:

Solution Research: Weapon

Wedge Hammer Saw

Spinner Rammer

Solution Research: Drive Element

• Tank drive-Maximum mobility, ultimate simplicity

-Utilizes two separate motors for turning

• Walking -Consume large amounts of power

-Easy to Damage

Solution Research: Electronics

• Motors-Voltage, power, weight, price

• Speed Controllers-Range of speeds, tolerance, durability-Popular brands: IFI Robotics, Vantec, 4DQ

• Radio Controllers-One link for each: motor, weapon, on-off switch

Preliminary Design

+ =

Inverted Wedge Flipping Robot:

-Armor

-Flipping Arm

-Drive Train

-Electronics

Design: Armor

• Materials– Titanium Alloy (Exterior)

• Withstand largest load, smallest weight• Difficult to machine

– Aluminum (Interior) • Protected by Titanium• Lightweight, easy to machine

• Design– Invertible Parallelogram– Ultimate Defense

Design: Lifting Arm• Purpose

– Dynamic offensive weapon– Lift and toss an enemy

• Design– Moves in arc motion– Flush with body

• Advantages– High offensive damage – “Unlimited” firing cycles

Lifting Arm – Power• Linear Actuators

– Background• Small power screw• Limited only by battery

– Requirements• High load capacity• Reasonable speed

– Cost• Around $100

Lifting Arm - Considerations

• Engineering analysis– Dynamic analysis

• Define motion of arm• Identify necessary

dimensions

– Stress analysis • Identify points of high

stress• Choose appropriate

material

Design: Drive Train

• Tank drive– Maximum mobility – Achieve 4 wheel drive

• Bi-axial support– Wheel protection– Additional support

• Invertible

Drive Train - Components• Motors

– Range in power• 3hp to 9hp• 2000rpm to 5000rpm

– Requires speed reduction• Chain and sprocket

– High efficiency– Low cost– Easy to configure

• Minimal precision required

Design: Electronics• Wireless communication between Operator and Bot• Converts user commands into motor operations• Senses Bot hardware failure• Controls the Bot’s Primary weaponry

Electronics: System Overview

3

32

5

1

4

Electronics: Central Control Unit

• Microchip PIC18F8520• Code written in C or

assembly language• Dual control unit:

– Basic Hardware Functionality

– Specialized Hardware Functionality

Electronics: Communications and Speed Control

• RS-422 Modems– 900 MHz frequency channel– 5 standard channels and 35

“competition” channels

• Victor 884 Speed Controller– Controls Bot motor functions– Can output 3%-100% of the

input power

Design Schedule and

Cost Analysis

Design Schedule

Cost Analysis

Shell/Body $1,669.00

Lifting Arm $459.00

Drive Train $1,283.00

Electronics $729.24

Total $4,140.00

Conclusion

• Design approach will yield a competitive robot

-Impenetrable titanium shell

-Deadly lifting arm

-Invertible wedge defense

-Maneuverability and accuracy