VEX ROBOTICS

Kinnelon High School: Robotics competition in which participants battle in team-based, head to head competition. Teams fight to score points in competitions unique to each year by designing their own custom robots.

Challenge: Attain a higher score than the opposing Alliance by flipping game caps to the team color, Toggling Flags, and by fighting to park on the center platforms in both an automated and driver-controlled section

Action: Devised and built a test drive train, utilizing tank treads, to secure and compete for the high scoring middle platform as treads have more surface contact with the platform, resulting in a robot that would be harder to move

Action: Constructed an intake for the balls utilizing rubber bands stretched across sprocket gears to pick up and load the ball launcher when spun. This feeder doubled as a cap flipper when spun in reverse and driven into a cap.

Action: Designed and created a punch mechanism for which we could rapidly and precisely launch the balls from our robot in order to turn the flags to our color

Action: Added a cam to the launcher to create multiple angles from which we could shoot, allowing us to be able to toggle flags from any location on the course.
Result: A fully coded robot that was powerful enough to push other robots off the middle platforms, toggle flags, and flip caps in order to be competitive in the Vex Competitions.
Competition: We placed 3rd in our VEX competition out of 47 teams. Our launcher was not as effective as we would have liked, but we were very effective in fighting other robots to flip caps and were able to secure the middle platform in every event.