AUTONOMOUS COMBAT ROBOT

As I have only begun specializing in Mechatronics this year, my experience with embedded and electronic systems in the classroom has not been quite prominent yet. One of my goals is to increase my understanding of these two fields, and what better way than by building an autonomous combat rover from scratch! I took on this project as a side hobby with my colleague to get a head start on what it takes to fully design a robot from all fields, not just the mechanical side. The competition and workshops are run under a division of the University of Toronto Robotics Association called SUMO. 

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The robot, which we named “Deadlift”, will be participating in a competition against other groups from the University of Toronto in April. Deadlift will be placed on an approximately two-foot diameter circle ring, painted black with a white ring on the edge. The robot must stay within the black circle and try to push the other robot off; if pushed off you lose. The robot must also be fully autonomous (Click link below for all rules).  

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For this 6 by 6-inch robot, I am programming the microcontroller using Arduino, a new software that I have had the opportunity to learn. I have learned how to connect the sensors, motors, battery, microcontroller, motor driver, and voltage regulator on a breadboard using stripped wires. I have also been able to program the microcontroller to read responses from line, ultrasonic, and infrared sensors and tell the motor driver specific actions to take for each response. For example, the line sensor can tell the motor to stop when sensing white and to move when sensing any other colour. Currently, we are learning about PCB boards and soldering, and I will be soldering parts and wires onto the PCB board within the next few weeks. 

I am learning a great deal from this club and am finding that the hands on experience coupled with the lecture - style workshops is accelerating my understanding and progress. Look out for Deadlift coming this April!  

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Epilogue: The competition and club meetings were sadly discontinued in March 2020 due to Covid-19. I am looking to continue with the design of Deadlift this summer (2021).