2009 FRC Robot - "DISCO BALLULATOR"

"Disco Ballulator" is designed to collect game pieces (orbit balls) by way of rollers into its bin, and shoot the balls through a dual shooter. (Don't know why this is important? The game overview might help.)

The drivetrain is a four wheel tank drive, with the standard slick wheels provided in the Kit of Parts. The ball has an option of two ways to get into the bin to wait for shooting. One way is by a pay load specialist throwing the ball in the top of the robot, and another is for the robot to roll over the ball, and the collector picks it up. The collector consists of 6 rollers on one side and a Lexan sheet 8 inches away. The rollers consist of a PVC core, pool noodle outer, and a shelf liner surrounding for grip on the Orbit Ball. The rollers stop 4 inches above the shooter's shelf. It takes 4 seconds for one ball to travel up the collector. To ensure that the balls do not get stuck in the robot, there is a PVC divider starting at the mouth of the robot to the shooters.

The two shooters are independently controlled by two jaguars, and therefore, two CIMs. There are 2 shooter speeds, which allow for the shooters to shoot an orbit ball from 1 to 8 feet. The bin and collector can hold a collective 25 Orbit Balls, and can unload all of the balls in 7 seconds.

Look at the CAD model breakdown for more details about the assembly of the robot. See the 2009 build season's story to see how the robot progressed over the weeks. Also, videos of the robot can be seen here. "Disco Ballulator" attended the Lone Star Regional in Houston, TX. After the qualifying rounds, "Disco Ballulator" was 5th out of 63 teams. The team chose an alliance composed of 704 The Warriors and 1421 Team Chaos. The alliance worked brilliantly together. They won the entire regional. And, now "Disco Ballulator" is looking forward to the championship event.

2008 FRC Robot - "AF ROBOT"

"Af Robot" was the DiscoBot's rookie year robot for the 2008 FIRST Robotics Competition. "Af Robot" was designed to run around the track with a telescoping lift to get the 40" ball on the over pass.

The drivetrain was a four wheel tank drive, with omni-wheels and high traction wheels. An omni-wheel was mounted on the front-left to allow the robot to make left turns without much resistance. The other omni-wheel was mounted on the opposite corner to avoid fish tailing out. High traction wheels, mounted on the remaining corners, were used to allow better control of the robot while providing enough traction to avoid being pushed around by other robots.

The lift consists of three nested boxes that uses a series of pulleys to raise the structure. When extended, the max height will reach approximately 97 inches tall. In stow mode, the height is about 52 inches. The lift can easily punch the ball off the overpass or replace the ball back on top.

Look at the CAD model breakdown for more details about the assembly of the robot. Also, videos of the robot can be seen here. "Af Robot" attended the Lone Star Regional in Houston, TX. After the qualifying rounds, "Af Robot" was chosen for the alliance composed of 647 The Cyber Wolf Corps and 1108 Panther Robotics. The alliance advanced to the semi-finals.

2008 VEX Robot

For the 2008 season, Discobots entered two VEX teams (A team and B team) with a similar design. The robot's design was composed of a four wheel tank drive system, and a conveyor belt which pivoted on a 16" high pole for the manipulator. The manipulator had the conveyor belt to suck up the foam blocks, and it moved on a fulcrum to make the conveyor belt mouth higher than the goals.

At the end of the qualifying rounds, the A team ranked number one, and the B team ranked third. The A team chose 1429 Team Kaos as an alliance, and the B team choose 2158 AustinCans. During the semi-final rounds, the A team alliance went up against the B team alliance. The A team won the semi-final match and ripped through the rest of the competition to win the final match.