2014 – Aerial Assist

Game Animation:


Team Name: Gompei and the H.E.R.D.

Robot Name: Pac-Goat


Summary for the Year:

In 2014, Team 190 had the task to build a robust robot that could play Aerial Assist, a  game in which robots had to pass one ball between themselves, shoot it over a large truss and score it in a high or low goal on the other side of the field. During the strategy decisions, the team decided that they wanted to be a robot that could both do the truss shot  and shoot into the high goal, such that the robot could potentially carry an alliance during qualifications if necessary. Since this game was a large clear field, defense was going to be quite prevalent, so the team went with six wheel drive, with omni-wheels in the back.

Additionally through prototyping, we found that an angled collector had the best chance of collecting the ball from any angle, which gave the robot the shape of Pac-Man, hence the name of the robot. To launch the ball, our team decided to use two large pneumatic pistons as air springs, which gave the most energy transfer.


Competitions Attended

  • Alamo Regional (San Antonio, TX)
  • WPI District (Worcester, MA)
  • Rhode Island (Smithfield, RI)
  • World Championship – Newton (St. Louis, MO)

Offseason Competitions Attended

  • BattleCry@WPI 15 (Worcester, MA)
  • Tech Valley Robot Rumble (NY)
  • River Rage (NH)

Awards

  • Creativity Award, Alamo Regional
  • Winner, WPI District
  • Quality Award, Rhode Island District