Here is a shorter, focused version that still sounds strong and intentional:
About the Project
We were inspired by how industrial graders from companies like John Deere level unpredictable terrain using strong mechanical design combined with automation. Instead of relying on complex height sensors, we focused on mechanically enforcing a plane and using structured autonomy to guarantee repeatability.
Our robot uses a rigid blade to remove high spots and passively define surface height, followed by a floating rake that redistributes and smooths remaining ridges. We implemented encoder-based autonomous raster passes with cross-hatching to ensure full coverage and convergence toward a flat surface.
One of our biggest challenges was working with sand as a deformable material—aggressive cutting caused pileups and motor strain. We solved this by shifting to progressive shallow passes and refining blade angle and rake compliance.
Through this project, we learned that robust mechanical design, combined with disciplined motion control, can outperform sensor-heavy approaches in uncertain environments.
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