Hot Rod

"Hot Rod" comes from two projects. The two separate projects have similar end goals with different means of achieving them. The requirements for the first project are listed below:

The robot must be able to ascend a ramp
The robot must not fall off the ramp
The robot must be controlled wirelessly through the internet
The robot cannot be touched during its ascent

I worked on Hot Rod with one other student. Our plan was to use two 12V DC motors to provide front-wheel drive. There would be a third wheel in the back to stabilize the car.

We also decided to make the robot in the shape of a box to simplify the process of storing and mounting electronic components.

Before we started construction, I created an assembly of the robot in SolidWorks to make sure all components interface correctly and effortlessly.

The creation of the assembly also served a second purpose, as we laser cut the frame for the robot. Thus, it was simple to export all necessary components as DXF files for laser cutting.

Internet connection was provided with the help of a Raspberry Pi. We used Python and an HTML website to allow a user to input directions for the robot to follow.

The controls were rudimentary but served us well in the completion of the project.

Our control website can be seen to the left.

Finally, we were able to put Hot Rod to the test (for the requirements listed for the first project). My partner controlled the robot as my professor added commentary.

The final product can be seen to the right!

The second project involving Hot Rod had slightly different requirements than the first. The new requirements can be seen below:

The robot must communicate with another robot
The robot, in conjunction with another robot, must push a cylinder up the ramp
The robot can only receive a start command; everything else is autonomous
The robot must be able to work with any other robot

As can be seen in the photo above, the major hardware modification that we made was the addition of guardrails. We viewed this as the easiest way to make sure that the robot stays straight, as we couldn’t rely upon the motors to provide equal speed at all times. Attached to the guardrails are two buttons. These buttons communicate to the robot whether it should speed up or slow down. For example, if the robot is on the left ramp, and only the left button is pushed, it must be falling behind the other robot, so it should speed up.

On top of this, our robot could send requests to the other robot to speed up or slow down based on the information provided from the buttons. Communication was vital when starting the ascent up the ramp, as both robots had to start at the same speed and at the same time. These initial agreements between robots were implemented in code with no communication between humans (i.e., the robots were coded to find a mutually agreeable speed and start time).