Our Robots
Zippy 3 - 2009 - LunacyZippy 2 - 2008 - Overdrive
Zippy T. Turtle - 2007 - Rack N' Roll
Zippy 3 - 2009
| Competition: | Lunacy |
| Description: | Zippy 3 was designed for the Lunacy game. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, the 2009 competition incorporated slick plastic wheels and regolith flooring designed to limit friction to simulate a reduced gravity equal to that of the moon's. To account for this, Team Awkward Turtle went away from the standard skid steering method of turning and implemented a half-crab drive. The drive system was designed so that both the front and back wheels could be changed from turning in opposite directions during normal driving, or in the same direction in order to get out of tight spots. Similarly, the back wheels could be disabled to allow Zippy 3 to be driven like a car. To enhance control while driving Zippy 3, a feedback loop using potentiometers and a PID controller was implemented, allowing for automatic re-centering of the wheels and limiting of wheel angles. With respect to the scoring element, Zippy 3 was built with modularity in mind. Two scoring elements were constructed. One was a shooter that could shoot 26', using a camera to help aim the "moon rock" balls in the correct direction. The second scoring element was a dumper that utilized gravity and a pneumatic gate to score a large amount of "moon rocks" at once. |
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Zippy 2 - 2008
| Competition: | Overdrive |
| Description: | Our robot this year incorporates several unique enginnering solutions. Zippy2 is built on a solid drive train that utilizes Mechanum wheels. This allows the robot to be very agile on the field. The ball capture mechanism (snapper) is able to capture and possess a trackball on the run without the use of a wall or other fixed object. Our lift mechanism is a three stage telescoping lift which is angled back at 16 degrees. This moves the center of gravity of the ball and arm assembly back towards the robot the higher it is lifted. This enhances overall stability. The snapper is able to remove balls from the overpass during hybrid mode and place them back at the end of the match. Zippy2 is pre-programmed with multiple hybrid cards, which are dip switch selectable on the robot. This allows the team to choose the best hybid mode based on our alliances and oppositions abilities. |
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Zippy T. Turtle - 2007
| Competition: | Rack N' Roll |
| Description: | Zippy T. Turtle is a defensive robot that also scores bonus points by lifting up the other two robots on our team at the end of the match. It has two speeds controlled by two Andy Mark transmissions. Its maximum speed is ten feet per second. The ramps are made out of pine re-incforcers and aluminum storage shelves. The pneumatic assemblies on the ramps to lift them up are custom made. This robot worked perfectly. At nationals we added flippers that made it even easier to get on. It won at Regionals but we had some horribly bad luck at nationals. |
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- About FIRST
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is a unique varsity sport of the mind designed to help high-school-aged young people discover how interesting and rewarding the life of engineers and researchers can be.
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