Final Team Post

Final Bill of materials:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tu_sqkuMm3LA8psXtB_CqdQ&hl=en







Our final machine went through many different steps before becoming our final product. We originally planned to build a conveyor belt that would collect the balls at the top of the arena and then would drive to the other side to score points. However, through our design process we came to decide this would not be as effective in competition. For this reason, we decided to build an arm that would rotate and extend into the arena.
When we first came up with this idea we were going to build a car with an arm that could drive. Upon further analysis, we began to see that getting the car to line up and drive straight would be difficult. We also saw a car as being easier to block and play defense. Building a stable arm that would be able to reach all parts of the arena and even into the opponents’ side became our final project idea. It would be able to reach all parts of the arena, play defense, and be difficult to defend against.
Through the process we ran into various issues that required our engineering skills to come to a final solution. One main problem we encountered was lining up the motor with the gear on the hex shaft. In order to solve this problem we built a bracket that held the two gears closer together. This resulted in a working machine and kept the gears from being pushed apart. We were very proud that our idea actually worked and saved our machine from not working in competition. Our final machine ended up being a mechanical arm that fit into the slot and could rotate and extend. This was very effective and could scoop over almost all of the balls.