FIRST Robotics Team 1138
Design Systems Engineer: June 2017 - May 2018
Subsystems Lead: June 2016 - June 2017
Arms and Lifts Subteam Member: June 2015 - June 2016
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international robotics competition, following a similar format as VEX Robotics, except at a much larger scale. Under strict rules and limited time and resources, teams of high school students are challenged to build industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game in alliance with other teams, while also fundraising to meet their goals, designing a team “brand,” and advancing respect and appreciation for STEM within the local community.
I spent 3 years on FRC Team 1138, where I was able to contribute greatly to the design and manufacturing of 3 different robots. I started off as a subteam member, assisting in the design of parts, and moved onto a design lead, where I was in charge of the overall design of a subsystem. During my junior year, I advanced to Design Systems Engineer, where I overlooked the design of the entire robot, ensuring that all subsystems were integrated smoothly.
Rope Climber
During my sophomore year, one of the objectives of the game was for the robot to climb a rope at the end of the match. As Subsystems Design Lead, I was in charge of the designing the climbing mechanism. Because lifting the entire weight of the robot would require large amounts of power, I developed a mechanism that used the power from the drivebase motors (the most powerful motors on the robot) to lift the robot. A custom pneumatic transmission directed the power from the base to the lift roller, giving us a sub-second hang, one of the fastest in the game. I also designed the lift roller to also be the ball intake roller, simplifying both subsystems into one. The cylindrical shape of the roller made it effective at intaking balls, while also making it a “spool” for the rope to wrap around when climbing.
The large roller in the front intakes balls, while the notch in it grabs onto a knot in the rope. Once the knot is engaged, the roller spins to reel up the robot.
Robot completing a successful climb
Robot resting in the pit
The 2-speed transmission gearboxes connected to the drivebase can bee seen on the left and right of the roller.
Two-speed Elevator Lift
During my junior year, along with managing the overall robot design, I led the design of another climbing mechanism. In the case, the game called for the robot to hand from a pole rather than climbing a rope. Similar to the previous year’s hang, I wanted to combine 2 systems into 1 to decrease complexity and weight, so I designed the hang to integrate with the actual lifting mechanism of the robot. The design used a single stage elevator lift to lift cubes, and at the top of the elevator was a hook that allowed us to climb at the end. The lift used a 2-speed pneumatic shifting gearbox to allow us to lift very quickly when scoring cubes and increase torque when needing to climb. Combining the climbing and lifting functions greatly simplified our design, and the climb worked consistently every match to secure the team 30 points.
Besides lifting the robot, the elevator can also be used to lift and score cubes like the one shown above.
The elevator system uses a winch system to lift and lower itself. The 2-speed transmission gearbox can be seen near the bottom.
Robot completing a successful climb on the rung