Sardar

Vallabhbhai
National
Institute of
Technology
(SVNIT, Surat)

Portfolio
Abstract Report
ROBOWARS

Vijay Rao
B.Tech. III – Electronics
+91 – 99243 47462
Chassis

The primary chassis structure for the robot is as shown in the picture. It is a
structure made up of steel L-flanges so as to provide strength to the unit at the basic level.

The entire structure can thus be primarily deciphered as a square unit with
multiple integrals mounted onto it at various points as per requirements of the weapons.

The centre of the chassis has a mounting facility for the power systems, to the
lower portion. This is accompanied with a locking/unlocking system, so as to ease the
replacement of batteries between rounds.

The basic chassis skeleton design is

as indicated in the adjoining picture. It’s a
steel structure designed keeping in mind the
weapons and the weight of the power
system.

The structure also provides the

freedom of switching between 2 wheel and 4
wheel drives.

The adjoining picture is the structure after

adding the cutter and the flips.

As can be easily deciphered, the internal

structure has been covered up. The material used
for this purpose will be steel sheets, with a
coating of hardened rubber sheets.

The picture still doesn’t show the position

of the central hammer as it is yet to be
accommodated into the structure.

Materials

The structure consists mainly of steel (Mild Steel) to provide it with the strength
to bear heavy blows from the sides and the top. The sheet thickness is 2mm.

Major parts of the chassis structure are made of aluminium (from Jindal™
Aluminium, product code: 15181). The following picture shows the details.

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 Cross-section of the
aluminium tube

the aluminium tubes used for the internal chassis structure

However, internal machinery consists of aluminum plates in various places, to

exploit the workability that it provides and also to decrease the overall weight of the
robot by compromising with strength of those parts which are not exposed to external
view or blows.

This picture shows the robot during the initial tests that were conducted to check the
linear alignment of the motor system and the control systems

Dimensions

The basic internal structure of the robot is shown in this picture which was used to
conduct tests regarding motor alignment, control systems and power system endurance
tests.

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 This structure is a square when viewed from the top, 40cm x 40cm. The height of
the basic structure extends up to 9.5 cm. However, this is only the basic structure which
will be fitted with the vertical members as shown in the previous page. The design height
is 800 cm.

Weapons and Strategy

The square structure of our robot facilitates a multi-faceted attack system, making
our assaults four-pronged (presently, increase expected before the combination). The
square structure is useful in increasing the stability of the entire integrated combination,
as the weapons can be placed in strategic positions.

i) Killer Cutter
The leftovers from an old HITACHI™ cut off machine form what we call the
Killer Cutter, although the machinery had to be changed to conform to the
rules. Powered by a 150W 24V PMDC motor, using a HITACHI™ 211001
15-inch 110 tooth cutting miter/bevel saw blade, this weapon will spearhead
our attack strategy. It is directly connected to an arm mechanism, which is
driven via servo control to lower onto the opponents’ robots ripping them
open at strategic places.
This weapon is specifically designed keeping in mind the lack of strength in
the chassis coverings that some of the robots might have.
With the amount of power and promise for damage this weapon offers, our
most preferred option is undoubtedly this weapon.

1.a 1.b

The picture 1.a shows our cutter that we have in our inventory. (The picture
1.b is of the blade that we will be extracting. 1.b is the one put up by the
company for commercial purposes.)

ii) Side Flips

Our next strategy aims at light-weight robots. It is anticipated here that these
robots, which will be weighing very light inherently, will be so made to perk
up their speeds. Hence, this strategy will be directed at exploiting the
opponent’s momentum in making them jump up and falling upside down. The
mechanism is materialized via thin steel sheets attached to fast motors, fixed
on the front edge, to capitalize on the initial gambit.

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iii) Drill
We ripped open an ELECTREX™ hand-held impact-drill and modified the
machinery (basically extraction and fitment of the chuck), constructed a few
jobs using MS on the college workshop lathe and there we had a drill ready,
which used a 5000 rpm 50W motor. With a drill bit of 6 mm diameter, we
hope to cause a lot of damage.
The positioning of this weapon is done keeping in mind that it is directly
supposed to screw up the locomotion mechanism of the opponent. A tank-type
tracked movement system, which we expect having maximum probability,
would be most vulnerable.

iv) Central Hammer

The center of the robot houses the most dangerous weapon we have been able
to devise. It aims at banging the locomotion mechanism straight down, or any
other vulnerable parts that might be observed during the match duration.

This picture is of the hammer that will be fitted to serve the purpose of this
weapon.
It is a 6 kg hammer, which will be tied onto a chassis member using nylon
strings. When required to fire, it would be opened and allowed to fall down.
The active impulse would be powered by gravitational force only.

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Control Systems

The control-system of the robot is a unit which consists of two distinctly placed
portions, connected wirelessly. The technique used for communication is Amplitude Shift
Keying (ASK), that is, a digital system is being used to serve the purpose.

There is only one frequency of operation and that is 434 MHz, however, there
won’t be any frequency clash problems because of the technique incorporated in the
circuitry, which is as mentioned below.

As had been demanded through the technical criteria put up on the site, the
control system incorporates a facility to circumvent the problem that would arise because
of frequency clashes. This is done by employing an address changeable mechanism on
the receiving end. There are a total of 256 different addresses possible and hence two
exclusive machines being controlled at the same time would not be a problem as the
combinations will not be exhausted out. This allows data transmitted at the same
frequency to be filtered out as required.
The transmitter consists of a keyboard of a maximum of 16 keys and hence can be
used for a robot that has 16 different mechanisms.

Our robot presently has the following mechanisms:

i) Motion of the wheels - 2
ii) Weapon 1 : Cutter - 1
iii) Weapon 2 : Flip - 1
iv) Weapon 3 : Drill - 1
v) Weapon 4 : Hammer - 1

These particulars add up to a total of 6, as of now, leaving space for 10 more

weapons to be added.

We do plan to increase the number of weapons to utilize all the space our control
system provides us with.

Power Systems

The power system for the robot is primarily a sealed lead acid battery pack, which
have a total voltage of 24V. The pack consists of two batteries, each of 7 Ampere hours.
The powering of the electronic circuitry responsible for proper functioning of the control
systems as well as the heavy solenoidal electro-mechanical loads is done with the same
battery pack.
However the electronic circuitry employs its own set of voltage regulators to step
down the voltage to a rating demanded by the ASK modules and the logic for driving the
motors.

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Progress – Present Status

Presently, the chassis is ready and the control system has been materialized and
mounted.

The killer cutter, side flips and drill have been developed individually as stand-
alone devices and only remain to be mounted onto the chassis for complete operation.
Testing at 24V DC has been done and therefore we do not expect any problems once the
mounting has been completed.

The only materialization of current plans that remains is that of the central
hammer, and that is to be completed once work resumes after the winter break at college
ends and the team gets back on campus.

The progress report being mentioned here is of the work and planning that had
been done before the semester ending winter-break started (date : 5th December, 2008).
With a little more than 3 weeks remaining for the competition, we are sure the robot will
be done and will certainly be capable of putting up a great show.