Revised Strategy and Design

          The revised strategy involves very minimal movement.  First, we drive past the wave field after there is enough clearance for the machine to drive past.  We may have to delay up to 8 seconds to allow for this clearance.  Then we will drive straight along the edge and gather all possible balls on the front of the table.  Then we will deposit the balls into the opponent's goal and sit there and block it.  The maximum points we can earn from this move is 96 points, while giving the opponent 10 points.  Still, the point differential will be great enough to win.  As a back up plan, the machine will also be able to push the tower by going in reverse. 

 



          The revised design uses only the dual motor/gearbox as far as the motors go.  Having only one motor reduces the risk of failure.  The front arm will collect balls on the front edge of the table without being very close to the edge of the table.  This reduces the risk of falling off of the table.  The front of the machine will hold the balls using a passive approach, but with minimal movement, the balls will not ever have a chance to leave the containment.  We also are going to have a ball caster at each corner for stability and wide tires to increase traction.  The rear will consist of a U-shaped device to push the tower in case of failure or if a similar strategy is being used by the opponent. 

Build Schedule

File remains shared between team on Google Drive, and will be updated as needed.

Strategy and Concept

Following the design review the team collectively decided to use a different strategy for the project.  Our original strategy was to collect the red balls located at the top of the ramp by using an extendable arm.  As shown in the screen shots and video there were many moving parts, and success depended on every part functioning properly in order to score any points.

The revised strategy is to use collect the balls in front of the wave and deposit them into the opponents goal.  As an alternative route the vehicle can also also make an attempt for the ball tower if the wave field is not easily acceptable, or proves to be a poor strategy choice.  The final vehicle will contain fewer moving parts, and have less opportunity for failure.