For our design strategy we plan to use a two piece design consisting of one slot-based robot to score the slot balls and one mobile tethered robot which will both score top balls and play defense. To accomplish this we plan to machine a slot-based robot which will be anchored to one hole on each side of the slot. This robot will use a screw drive and a linkage system to open and lock the flipper arm. It will then lower a conveyor belt system onto the top layer of balls to push them towards the slot. The conveyor system will continue to lower as balls are scored, this should allow us to score a majority of the slot balls. For the tether robot we plan to use the double planetary gearbox to make a small four wheeled robot. This robot will have a large plow mounted to the front of it so we can both collect balls or push them off the table as needed. It could also have several defensive mechanisms mounted to the back side of the car to obstruct robots which are primary top-based designs.
Slot Robot Screw and Linkage
