Collector Bot 2006 (Science Olympiad Robot Ramble Event
Collector Bot 2006
Just like in 2005, (see
Robot Ramble 2005)
I participated this year in the Science Olympiad Robot Ramble event. The event basically involved building a wireless remote-controlled robot that could pick up various items arranged on a playing field and deposit them into a goal box.
Diagram of playing field
The specific items that that the robot had to pick up were two ping-pong balls, three cork stacks, each consisting of three corks, a golf ball, and a CD-ROM. In addition, the robot had to pop three balloons present in the goal box.
My robot, Collector Bot 2006, was built with a variety of different materials, including LEGO, wood, cardboard, glue, metal (for the various electronic components), and others. Collector Bot 2006 is built to pick up each item individually and place it in the tray at the back of the robot. After it has gathered all of the items, it drives over to the goal box, pops the three balloons using a servo powered arm with an exacto blade attached to it, and dumps all of the items.
I operated Collector Bot 2006 with a Hitec Laser 6 FM Transmitter which works by constantly sending a stream of commands to the robot, which vary based on how I position the switches and sticks on the transmitter. The robot then interprets these commands and operates the motors accordingly. This loop of the transmitter sending commands and the robot reading and acting upon them continues for as long as the transmitter and receiver are powered on. Here's what happens during one sequence of the loop:
1. Command is sent from transmitter to receiver
2. Receiver reads command and outputs a corresponding servo pulse
3. PAK 7 chip reads this pulse and sends a corresponding byte to the OOPic
4. OOPic reads byte and turns on or off certain motors (e.g. it closes the claw)
5. Once the OOPic has completed its task (e.g. turning on a motor), it waits for the next command
Collector Bot 2006 Pictures
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