OverviewTeams from Union College and Princeton University are asked to design and build a robot that can shoot hockey pucks at the opposing team's goal and defend its own goal from the opponents' robot. Construction goes smoothly for Union, while Princeton struggles to finish after two last-minute design changes. In the final competition, Union College's "Dutchbox" takes out the Princeton "Tilghmanator." Union advances to the semi-final round of Robot Rivals and one step closer to the season championship.
The Teams
Union College
Adam Retersdorf, Senior, Mechanical Engineering
Marissa Post, Senior, Mechanical Engineering
Jason Fishner, Junior, Mechanical Engineering
Princeton University
Ben Essenburg, Junior, Mechanical Engineering
Brian Beck, Junior, Aerospace Engineering
Tyler Mincey, Senior , Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
The DesignsUnion designs a robot with two air-powered defensive panels, a clear plastic deflector, and a pneumatic firing mechanism with a pre-loaded puck chamber.
Princeton designs a robot with a primary defensive wall, two secondary defensive flaps, and a puck-lobber consisting of a pneumatic arm, a gravity-fed magazine, and a servo-motorized puck loader. t rodents are caught up in between them and propelled into the onboard holding bin.
The "Household Item" Component
The teams are given a household item from which they may source parts for the construction of their robots. The team that uses the most parts from the household item receives a pre-determined advantage in the final competition. The household item for this competition: hockey equipment.
Construction and Competition
Host Chris Chianelli introduces Union College and Princeton University to their challenge: to build a robot that can shoot hockey pucks at the opposing team's goal, and defend its own goal against the other team's hockey robot. While the teams brainstorm at their design tables, Chris drops by to show them the hockey goals that will be featured in the competition. Experts Brian and Buzz make sure the lab is stocked with all the parts the teams will need.
The teams finalize their designs at the design boards and begin construction. When Buzz and Brian reveal the surprise household item -- hockey equipment -- the teams get to work putting it all to good use.
Princeton begins the construction of the chassis and their puck firing assembly, but testing shows that it will need more work. Union also works on the basics of their offensive and defensive systems, choosing a modular approach to building their robot.
After a halftime progress report with Chris Chianelli, Princeton reinforces their offensive systems, dubbing their robot the "Tilghmanator" after university president Shirley Tillman. Meanwhile, Union's robot is coming together quickly, with the exception of the electronics systems.
Princeton makes a last-minute design change to incorporate a puck lobber into their offensive systems, but they change their plan a second time to allow for two identical pneumatic kickers. On the other side of the lab, everything is going according to plan with the Union robot. Both teams finish construction as time winds down.
Chris recaps the building day and reviews the rules of the competition. Eight rounds and four goals later, Union's "Dutchbox" takes out the Princeton "Tilghmanator."
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