Robots

2011 - Knightmare 2k11

The Knightmare 2k11 is the robot that the Cyber Knights designed for the 2011 FRC game LogoMotion. 

Its primary features are a two-part elevator and a pivoting gripper that grabs tubes from the inside.

Fully extended, the robot can reach just under 130 inches. The elevator can move from the floor to its maximum height in about 1.5 seconds. As a result, it is able to score quickly on any scoring peg. 

The gripper and pivot can pick up a tube from the floor in just under a second, and likewise can place a tube on a scoring peg in around a second.

The drive system affords a great deal of speed and maneuverability. It features two treaded wheels in the center driven directly by the transmissions, and then four omni wheels, two on each end of the robot, allow the robot to turn more easily. The center treaded wheels have been dropped a fraction of an inch in order to increase the amount of weight resting on those wheels and, subsequently, increase their traction. This gives the robot greater controllability and power while maintaining speed and stability.

In addition, advanced programming has grealy increased our robot's effiency. Picking up and scoring a tube requires only one button to be pressed, and the elevator moves automatically to one of the pre-programmed peg heights with the press of a button. These pre-programmed actions are carried out more quickly and efficiently than any human could, allowing the robot to score more tubes in a match than most other competitors.

On that note, our autonomous program operates with unparalleled effieincy and consistency - at the CT regional it successfuly hung the ubertube in every single match (16 out of 16 times!)

However, that is only one robot. The minibot currently climbs the pole in about 1.2 seconds, and is improving every day. The minibot deployment system is still being developed in parallel with the minibot, but its current design features a pivoting arm that drops down from the back of the robot. When the arm is dropped all the way down a latch releases the minibot, which hits the pole in well under a second.

For an example of our robot in action, see the videos from eliminations at the CT regional here.