AUTONOMOUS OUTDOOR ROVER TEAM

Mechanical Sub -Team Lead
(September 2019 - April 2020)

One of the really cool teams I am apart of right now is the Autonomous Rover Team (ART) at the University of Toronto, where I am the mechanical team lead! The rover we are working on, named “Proton”, is completely being designed from scratch by my team, and will be participating in the Robogames – Robomagellon competition.   

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Proton will have a 4-wheel drive system and box chassis made of sheet metal (to be determined). All decisions were made by comparing how well our options achieved a number of  objectives. We have determined the layout of all drive parts and embedded parts on the rover body and have manufactured a prototype of the chassis using wood. The camera mount, which we want to protrude from the body vertically by more than half a meter, will be built as a truss like triangular prism structure in order to increase stability. I am currently CADing the prototype with the camera mount on Solidworks  with a goal of determining the best material for our chassis that can withstand the weight of all parts of the rover.  

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Throughout the design phase of Proton, whether it is the chassis, drive system, mounts, or wheel size, I focused on ensuring all decisions were made through team collaboration and careful analysis of our objectives. The beginning of all meetings consists of stating our goals for the day as well as any progress that had been made since the last meeting. After all meetings, I create a list of what was done and what needs to be done. Aside from these weekly meetings with my team, I also meet with other team leads to discuss progress, deadlines, and any information we need from each other. My ultimate goal as a lead is to motivate my team, keep them excited about our goal, and establish a great team dynamic.  

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While Proton is the Mech team’s main focus, ART is also building another robot named “Caffeine” (3 times the size of Proton) that will be participating in the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition this summer. The drive system and body has already been built by past Mechanical Teams; however, my team and I will still be doing some work on it. We have been tasked to design a more stable camera mount for Caffeine (currently very wobbly) as well as designing an addition to the body to make it sturdier and more visually appealing (just a metal sheet right now). In the case of both robots, I am very excited to see what my team and I can do!

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Epilogue: The competitions were both canceled due to Covid-19, and in person sessions for the Mech team were discontinued in March 2020. Although we could not continue the design of Proton and the completion of Caffeine, I am thankful for the knowledge, skills, and fun times I had with my team!

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