Tower Takeover

Objective:  

The main method of scoring  in this game was by stacking cubes in the scoring areas in the corner.  Additional points could be scored by placing different color cubes on the towers, thereby multiplying the score of cubes of the same color. Due to the importance of the multipliers, our team decided it was crucial to be able to reach all the towers in order to get the maximum amount of multipliers in matches.

Brainstorming process:

After researching previous games, our team decided that the best way to reach all the towers would be to build a robot with a double reverse four bar. This lift would allow us to reach even the highest goal, and also allow our team to stack plenty of cubes in the scoring areas. We also decided to use an expanding rubber band magazine for the cubes that extended upwards, allowing us to lift up to 5 cubes at once. 

Assembly:

After building a simple 6 wheel drive base and building the double reverse four bar, everything was going to plan until the the construction of the magazine. The  extending portion would repeatedly get stuck, hindering our ability to hold cubes. Fortunately, by using lubricant and carefully sanding all sharp edges, our team was able to get the magazine to slide smoothly. The next issue was attaching the magazine to the robot. Unfortunately, simply attaching it to the front was not an option as we had maximized size already, so instead the magazine had to start horizontally within the robot before flipping out and resting vertically.  The flip out mechanism on this robot was truly unique, as it used the geometry of the pieces and rubber bands to lock the magazine in place once it was flipped out and did not allow the magazine to bobble around.

Results: 

Success! The robot was very effective at achieving our goal of placing the cubes in the towers, and many teams took note of our effectiveness. We did very well in qualifications and ended up winning an Excellence Award, qualifying us to compete at the World Championship. Sadly, due to the COVID pandemic, the World Championship was cancelled.