University of Alberta RoboMaster Engineering Team
Fully Autonomous Sentry Robot
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Creative Fields: Robotics, Design, Manufacturing, R&D
Completion Date: 2021
Skills: Brainstorming, SolidWorks modelling, design, DFX, BOM, manufacturing, multi-discipline collaboration
Background: This robot was designed for the University of Alberta RoboMaster Team to participate in RMNA competition. Based on the rule of the competition, the sentry robot is required to be able to move on a horizontal rail and identify and then shoot projectiles at moving enemy robots in the arena fully autonomously. There were three subteams (Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Vision) working on this project. The mechanical team was responsible for the design, modelling, manufacturing, and troubleshooting of all mechanical parts of the robot.
Project Details:
A lightweight, tightly integrated structure with only three wheels was proposed to allow the robot to move at high speed on the rail. This would bring the sentry robot higher mobility when tracking or dodging the enemy robots. The design was inspired by the mortise-tenon joints.
After the design was approved by the Electrical and CV team, a detailed 3D model assembly was created in SolidWorks. During the detail designing phase, structural parts were validated using SolidWorks Simulation Tools. The limited manufacturing resources were considered thus only a couple of critical parts were designed to be CNC milled. Then, part drawings were made following requirements from the team’s manufacturing partner. Simple parts were manufactured by mechanical teams at Elko Garage.
Subsequently, the assembled sentry robot was passed to the Electrical and CV team for testing.
Video Demonstration:
Contribution and Disclaimer:
My work is only limited to the mechanical part of the robot and does not include the control or CV coding.
My contribution:
Initial design and sketch
Detailed modelling for most of the robot parts, excluding the wheel mounting system
Communication with manufacturers
Assembling and troubleshooting
Assisted in the design and manufacturing of the rail