Ideas For Improving Your Robot

Aesthetic Appearance

The first improvement is to add a superstructure that personalises your chariot and improves its appearance. Why not enlist the help of your art department?

Any superstructure must be capable of easy removal so that you can remove the battery caps quickly to immobilise your chariot if anything goes wrong. You will also need a hole for the aerial and must keep below the 12 kg mass limit.

Remember you need it to negotiate the obstacle course so it can’t be too high or wide. Also, don’t make it too top heavy or the superstructure will fly off when you ‘accidentally’ bump into an opponent when playing football.

Ruggedness

If you do hard tackles in football you will find that the basic design may need strengthening. You could re manufacture the chassis using 12mm plywood and fit the pieces together with mortise and tenon joints.

The batteries may also come loose. We have supplied you with cable ties to tie them down to the chassis, but there may be other problems that will need ingenuity and engineering thought to overcome. Think through the consequences and discuss each idea with your team members before you cut anything. You must leave easy access to the battery release for safety reasons.

Traction

There are many ways to increase traction (Friction) and we challenge your ingenuity.

Major Redesign

DO NOT be tempted to modify the basic design until you have constructed a standard Rampaging Chariot and have a working robot. You can then test it thoroughly, discover any weaknesses and formulate ideas (within the rules) that will improve upon the standard design and thereby gain a possible advantage over your opponents.

You can then, if you wish, make a replacement chassis and transfer the working and tested components into it.  Do the design on paper and check all the components will physically fit in before you cut anything.

Remember the layout of the wheels is very important and you should consider the ball guides and ensure there is clearance to go up a 1 in 10 ramp without grounding.

The positions of the electronic components are also important to avoid radio (electromagnetic) interference. The example layout has proved to be satisfactory in this respect, but other layouts may also be acceptable.

Considerations

·         Width

·         Length

·         Ball guides

·         Ramp clearance

·         Shape of the front

·         Weight – The mass of a standard Rampaging Chariot is about 8.2 Kg.

·         The maximum mass allowed is 12 Kg.

·         Centre of Gravity

·         Motor gearing

·         Control Laws

·         Gyro assisted stability

·         Wheel base

·         Aesthetic appearance

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