Robot Man Jan — 2006

Robot Man Jan at the Los Angeles Regional

Our robot for the 2006 game Aim High was called Robot Man Jan. It featured a basket for the human-loading of balls, a two speed drive train, a gravity-feed for balls and a shooter. The shooter had two vertically-oriented wheels to shoot balls into either the high or low goals. It had the ability to tilt up or down, or rotate 180 degrees. It was able to score in the high goal by using its camera to search out the green light, and autonomously orient the shooter to score balls accurately. For the integrated shooter and camera system, this robot won the Radio Shack Innovation in Control Award.

Left: Robot Man Jan at the Phoenix Regional. Right: Shooter assembly on Man Jan

Technical Specifications:

Weight: 120 lbs.
Height: 60 inches

Drive Train

– Four CIM motors
– Two custom-made two-speed transmissions, pneumatically shifted
– Six 3 1/2" rubber wheels, rocker configuration
– Wide driving orientation for maneuverability

Shooter

– Two minibike motors to drive shooter wheels
– Rotation (azimuth) powered by one globe motor
– Large custom-machined "lazy susan" bearing for rotation platform
– Ball feeder mechanism powered by one globe motor
– Gravity fed balls from overhead storage basket
– Tilt of shooter (elevation) controlled by one van door motor

Electrical/Programming

– Vision camera to track green target light
– On-board gyro
– Effective offensive autonomous mode for scoring in high target

This robot originally had a ball pickup mechanism. The mechanism consisted of a conveyor run by a single drill motor that spanned the width and height of the entire back of the robot and dumped balls in the basket. Unfortunately, it was scrapped due to weight issues.