Programming Final Design

The top half of this code makes the robot spin until it sees something. The bootom half solves a problem we had with the robot not having enough power to push things therefor it stops. By having it reverse then ram again if the wheels stop we solved this problem. This code is only half of the solution - the other half makes the decision on when to do the reverse action this code is the doing it part.


Our next programming problem with this part was that the robot spun around to fast and this did not give the ultrasonic sensor time to see anything so we had to slow down the turn, this allowed the ultrasonic sensor time to see the opponent.



Because of the gearing sometimes the wheels jam, it needs a run up in order work properly so we made the robot reverse a little bit if the wheels do not spin for a period of time. This is the thinking half from the post above.



This part of the program is the line detection, when it sees the line it stops reverses and then looks for the opponent. We had a problem with the robot being to fast for the line sensor but this was solved when we made the robot spin to look for its opponent as this made it unlikely for it to miss the opponent (in the small ring) and run out the ring anyway.

The Important Part

Time to add the important light sensor. We decided to mount it up front taking the risk of it being hit off vs running over the line. up front one because we think its unlikely that any of the robots will have enough momentum/weight to break it off.

Gearing

We decided to gear our robot to give it more pushing power ( little cog to big cog ) because we thought this would work effectively with our ramp. This proved to be a design fault as this lost a lot of speed for the sake of a small boost in pushing power. We decided that the speed would be a better option becuase once the opponents traction is gone pushing power is obselete and the extra speed give us an advantage when we first try to get under the opponent. F=Ma which means with low gearing all we have lost is acceleration meaning our force has decreased but with greater acceleration the force increases.

Weapon

We need a weapon or something to attack/push the enemy out the ring. We decided to use a ramp because it gives our robot a wide pushing base and can also get under the other robot to lift their wheels off the ground removing their traction allowing us to easily win.

Remove the Junk

We have removed the scorpions stabber because it is a useless weapon for our sumo fight. Also we have mounted the head higher up because this will reduce the chances of it being knocked off ( not a good thing as the head gives the robot direction ).

Change the Drive

After analysing our original "spike" robot we decided that the Drive was useless (it used a leg style not wheels) we need wheels because they add extra traction make turning easier and will allow us to gear our robot later if we decide too. 

We decided to go with single wheels mounted on the side because this will give us an almost perfect on the spot turning circle.

Heres the adjusted "spike" with wheels.

Starting Point

Last term we built the pre designed robot "spike" for a bit of fun and we have decided to adobt several of its sumo appropriate features such as the low centre of gravity because it will make us hard to flip also the motors at the rear of the design because this will give us greater rear power due to the extra weight holding us down and it will leave the front clear for a lifting device of some kind.