• Drone shape, size, and consistency

• Drone launcher

• Intake

• Hook

At first, we had the idea of shooting the drone straight up and having it curve in a loop such that when it was near the ground it would be flying toward the wall of the field, hit it, and stop in the 30 point area. This worked consistently, however, it went above the 5’ height limit. We fixed this issue by making a smaller drone, which had a shorter flight path. The first drone had a flight path that was too tall, the second was too short, the third one was just right. The drone had flaps to change trajectory into a loop, and tabs to hold them in place.

We quickly prototyped a launcher using LEGO pieces, and then 3D printed the barrel, which needed to be one part to slide more smoothly. We also replaced the LEGO axles with screws to attach the springs more firmly. A mentor also recommended us to make the launcher adjustable so it could be fine-tuned at every meet.

Our design incorporates 3D printed TPU flaps with large teeth that pull pixels into our bucket, offering enough flexibility to avoid damaging the field. Rigid supports secure the flaps to the drive shaft, allowing for greater force during intake. The lower silicone roller, with its strong grip, efficiently lifts pixels off the field and into the bucket, outperforming surgical tubing. Staggered left and right flaps enable us to intake two pixels at once while applying torque to only one pixel at a time. Ensuring the speed of the flaps and roller match is crucial to prevent pixels from flipping during intake. We calculated the surface speeds of both components and designed gear and belt ratios accordingly, matching the total drive ratio between flaps and roller to their respective diameters.

We developed a way to be able to hang on the bar easily, while the power is turned off in order to save battery at the end of the match. We do this without the need for any servos on the lift itself. We chose to cut the hook out from a sheet of aluminum because it’s a very light material that can support the weight of the robot. We chose to use a linear actuator because it comes with a lead screw. This lead screw helps to keep the hook from moving when we don't want it to. The hook will only go down if we turn the screw, not if it's pushed down by force.