Teacher/Mentor Institute Hands-On Session: Building a Robot Carolyn Bauer July 30-31, 2015

Overview  Quick and simplified exposure to what your student team will experience  Engineering Design choices  Building decisions  Limited schedule & materials  We hope that this will make you a better coach and mentor! Page 2  Multiple 3 Minute Matches  Frustrations  Working as a team

Caveats This guide has a suggested procedure for building your robot. You may vary from this procedure so long as you:  Do not endanger yourself or anyone else  Do not permanently attach anything to the Returnable Kit parts  Do not attach any duct or electrical tape to the Returnable Kit parts  Do not damage the room or furniture in any way  Clean up after yourself Page 3

Be courteous to our hosts!  Please DO NOT scratch the tables, other furniture or floors, or snag any carpet or furniture fabric  Please use the Drill Block when drilling  Keep a ceiling tile protector between your work and the furniture or floor Page 4

Platform (1) Construct/Attach:  Plywood base  Motors  Skid Make sure the platform is stable and can roll in various directions. Page 5

Platform (2)  Attach Cortex Page 6

Wheels  Attach hubs to wheels  Attach hubs to motor shafts  Attach motor to platform with pipe strap – on ends of motors Page 7

Connect Motors to Cortex (1)  BEST requires the use of motor ports 2-9  Motor Ports 1 & 10 – Built-in motor controller. Not allowed by BEST.  Motor Ports 2-9 – Require external Motor Controller.  Balance motors between ports 1-5 and 6-10  Motor Ports 1-5 share same overload circuit protection  Motor Ports 6-10 share same overload circuit protection.  Use Screw Terminal Motor Interface cables Page 8

Connect Motors to Cortex (2)  Cortex Motor Port  Motor Controller  Screw Terminal Block  Motor wires with Quick Connects  Motor Tabs Page 9

Create Program, While Loop, and Arcade Function  easyC: File … New Competition Project  Use Field Control Competition Project  Operator Control tab  Joystick … Arcade- 2 motor into while loop Forward/Reverse Channel: 2 Rotate Channel: 1 Left Motor, Right Motor: (look where you plugged these in to the Cortex.) Page 10  JoystickAnalogDeadband => before Arcade instruction  Add Deadband for both Channel 1 and Channel 2 to make wheels easier to control with Joystick

Test Drive 1. Go to Build and Download menu. Compile your program. Fix any errors. 2. Connect USB cable between laptop and Cortex. Download your program to Cortex. 3. Tether joystick and Cortex – Connect them with USB cable. 4. Turn on Cortex first, then joystick. Wait for ROBOT and JOYSTICK lights to turn green. 5. Test each wheel motor forward and backward. If either wheel moves in the wrong direction, go back into the program, check or uncheck the box to reverse direction, and try again. 6. Untether the Joystick and Cortex. Turn them off. Insert the 2 VEXNet keys and turn them back on. 7. Drive the platform without the tether. Page 11

Arm  Build and attach A- frame to hold arm  Make and attach an arm that is the right size to:  Reach to the ground  Be pulled down by the winch Page 12

Winch and Motor  Build and attach winch  Mount and attach winch motor  Wire winch motor to Cortex  Edit your program to include winch motor  Test  Add spool and string to winch and test again Page 13

Claw and Servo  Disconnect the servo from Cortex.  Design and assemble claw, including servo. Make sure it can move properly.  Remember to assemble it so that its starting position coincides with the servo’s “zero” position.  Reconnect the servo to the Cortex. Turn Cortex on and test claw. Page 14

Servo Programming  Connect servo to Cortex with a Servo Function  In your program, add a JoystickToServo, and use Channel 5 or 6  (Servos don’t need a deadzone)  Turn on Cortex and Joystick. The Servo will rotate to its “zero” position. Make a note of it. Page 15

Mount the Claw  Attach the claw to the end of the arm.  Make sure it reaches to the ground and can open and close.  You may need to add a servo extension between the servo controller and the servo. Page 16

The Competition  Two robot teams per 3 minute match - multiple matches.  Game Field:  Bounded by PVC  Small & big balls  Two buckets (one per team)  Score by placing balls in your bucket.  Small balls = 1 point each  Big balls = 2 points each Page 17

Example 2014 Mini Robots Page 18