Team Dingo – GE 423 Spring 2007
This semester our project goal was to traverse a 12 tile
square course collecting trash (aka orange golf balls) and depositing a soda
can in the “recycling center.”
Our Philosophy
- Programming
Design
- Enslaved
undergraduate to code robot – This was the key to our approach. Our code was designed modularly,
tested modularly and then assembled, under the direct supervision of the
grad students. This resulted in a
very efficient coding experience and a program that was easy to
debug. In point of fact we didn’t
exactly follow this approach all the time, but to the extent that we did
life was good.
- We
finished basic functionality a week ahead of the contest and spent the
last week tweaking our bot to outperform all the competition.
- We
leveraged the code libraries offered by Dan Block to improve robot
performance and cut design cycle time.
- Mechanical
Design
- Can
Gripper - we took a minimalist approach, using less material to design a
more elegant solution. Our can griper
is highly reliable and has the added advantage of getting the can up and
out of the way of our forward facing sensor suit.
- Golf
Ball Catcher – We chose to implement an active solution to the golf ball
collection problem. Using a servo
we open our front trap door moments before driving over a golf ball. Carefully modulating speed the robot
uses the momentum of the balls already in the capture volume to keep them
away from the door when it opens.
- Atheistics
– keenly aware that robot competitions are a spectator sport we took
pains to present a sleek professional image – from the dragon teeth on
the front jaw to the flashing signal lights in the rear
Video
Full Run
Up Close
Our Code
Our Bios:
Dave – Starting centerfielder for
the Cleveland Indians, Dave came back to grad school in 2005 to begin pursuing
his life long dream of a successful carrier in academia.
Serena – Annapolis
top 50 graduate and Former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Serena was assigned
in 2006 to monitor numerous military contacts in Dr. Andrew Alleyne’s lab.
Chad
– Hollywood director and movie mogul, Chad
came back to school in 2004 inspired to finish an advanced degree by the
graduation of his good friend Steven Spielberg.
John – After serving with distinction
as an executive aid to Allen Greenspan, and sharing a noble nomination with his
father, John came to Illinois where he will
graduate with top honors from the College
of Engineering.