Anomaly 52152A

Anomaly Robotics 52152A Hackathon Submission

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Inspiration

Our team’s inspiration comes from creative and innovative thinking, combined with ideas from other teams. We use resources like the YouTube channel VEX Talk to learn about effective robot designs, robots, and tips for the VEX game. We then build on these ideas by adding our own unique improvements and touch to whatever we're building. With this, we can build a successful bot and have a great season

What it does

Our robot is a combination of Pintex 2.0 and our own original design. It features a beam hinge with a 6-bar mechanism, allowing it to extend high enough to score on the standoff goal. The robot uses a pin claw that can grab, stack, and flip pins in one smooth motion. A pas-tech mechanism on the pin claw lets us adjust the angle of the pin claw for more precise stacking. The drivetrain is powered by two motors and is well-braced for durability. We also have a pneumatic-powered 91-point aligner that helps us consistently achieve the 91-point stack. For added stability, the robot includes an internal plate along with triangle braces, motor braces, and cross braces. Together, these components create a stable, efficient, and high-scoring robot.

How we built it

After we decided which robot we are going to do, our designer used CAD to create a 3D model of what exactly we are going to build. After that was done, our builder built the robot, making improvements and fixes on the way. This allowed for a fast build process.

Challenges we ran into

Early in the season, we faced challenges with pneumatics. As a new team, we didn’t have access to them and weren’t familiar with how to use them, even though they were important for this game. To overcome this, we developed a non-pneumatic beam hinge as an innovative alternative. Later in the season, once we gained access to pneumatics, we successfully integrated them into our robot. Another issue we encountered was inconsistent flipping. The pins would often undershoot, so we added extension pieces to improve reach. However, this reduced the grip of the pin claw. We also struggled with inconsistent stacking, as the stacks didn’t always match how the pins were initially grabbed. To solve this, we added a hinge mechanism, which made flipping much more consistent and improved overall stacking reliability.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of winning the Innovate Award at our first-ever competition of the season and qualifying for the New Jersey State Championship. We are also extremely proud of winning the Teamwork Champion award at two different competitions, which qualified us for the State Championship two additional times. Lastly, we are most proud of winning the Excellence Award at the State Championship, which qualified us for the World Championship.

What we learned

We learned to stay persistent and never give up. At the beginning of the season, our robot was barely working, and we considered quitting. However, we kept working hard and pushed through the challenges. As a result, we made it to the World Championship. This experience taught us to keep going no matter what.

What's next for Anomaly 52152A

We are going to try to do our best at the world championship and hopefully win!

Built With

  • c+
  • vexcodeiq
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