NURobotics
When I arrived at Northeastern in Fall 2019, NURobotics was a thriving club that inspired me to get involved by designing the drivetrain to The Fenway Defender (Combat Robotics). But in the 2020 shutdown, prior management moved on and the club all but vanished - save for myself a small team of students determined to breathe life into a new vision for what NURobotics could be. In the wake of this revival, I was drawn to steer the club towards success have served on the E-Board as the Administrative Co-President (Fall 2022), Lead of the Intro Committee (2021), and Head Communications Officer (Spring 2022).
Intro to Robotics Course
2021 - 2022
Lead of Intro Course Committee
Spring 2021 - Fall 2021
Goal:
Create an introductory robotics course to help interested students from all majors learn the fundamental skills required to be an asset on any robotics team
Action:
Beginning in Spring 2021, I coordinated a team of 4 instructors in weekly meetings
to prepare the course by:
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Drafting curriculum outlines
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Making presentations
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Organizing course spending and funds
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Applying to scholarship grants to support the course
The resulting curriculum involved:
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Teams constructing an Arduino robotics kit
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Learning the fundamentals of Arduino hardware and sensors
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Practicing C++ code and pathfinding algorithms
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Navigating various mazes and obstacles
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Exploring the fundamentals of CAD and modelling for applied design
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3D Printing original parts to augment the existing robot
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The chance to compete against other teams in maze races and other challenges!
Result:
The course launched in Fall 2021 to a wave of over 100 interested students. Due to class size restrictions, we enrolled 30 students and loaned some kits to teams attending our lectures virtually. Although I was off campus for Fall 2021 on co-op at NxStage, I returned every weekend to plan with the instructors and once a week to teach the course. Many of the students gave positive feedback and have gone on to join other projects hosted in NURobotics.
Our team of instructors has a plethora of ideas about how to enhance the course this semester that we are excited to bring to fruition in the coming months. In the interest of balancing my workload, I have stepped down as Lead of the Intro Committee this semester, but I will maintain an active role in its management and execution.
Student robot practicing line following (top) and easy maze challenge (bottom)
Robobrawl
Fall 2019 - Spring 2020
For my first introduction to robotics, I joined the Combat Robotics project. The goal of this project was to design, machine, and compete with a 30-lb combat robot for the 2020 Robobrawl competition. I worked in a team of 3 on the drivetrain of the robot.
Problem and Constraints:
Some general constraints guided the design of the drivetrain:
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Minimize exposed tread in order to better protect from offensive attacks
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Be invertible, such that if the robot is tossed and lands on its back, it still maintains some - if not full - maneuverability
Our technical constraints:
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Overall robot weight must not exceed 30 lb
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Use motors for full 360 motion and drivability
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Achieve speeds of at least 5 mph
Action:
To develop a drivetrain design that met these constraints, I began by researching existing combat robotics drivetrains. From my research, I formulated a design which would meet the general constraints, and I presented a sketch of this design to the team. We collaborated on how to modify the design to best meet the technical constraints. A SolidWorks model of the drivetrain design was developed by the project lead, Lincoln Kelley, to model variables like weight.
As other teams finalized and modelled other parts of the robot, we were able to finalize a design that met the technical constraints. Since I had only just been introduce to SolidWorks that same year, I did not greatly contribute to the resulting model, but I have been given permission to show the final CAD here.
Result:
Once the model was complete, our team began to machine the robot starting in Spring 2020. I was introduced to a machine shop and had training and hands-on experience using:
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Metal and plastic lathe
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Bandsaw (I performed some maintenance on the bandsaw)
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Tormach CNC machines
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Grinding machine
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Drill press
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Milling machine
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the construction of the robot was interrupted and the competition cancelled. Since I was no longer on campus, I was no longer able to contribute to the final efforts to complete the robot during the summer and fall of 2020.
Although I was not able to see its completion, this experience granted me the opportunity to practice the design process and granted me valuable exposure to machining.
Full SolidWorks Assembly of Final Drivetrain Design
CAD Credit to Lincoln Kelley
Full SolidWorks Assembly of Final Robot Design
CAD Credit to Lincoln Kelley
ChemE Machine Shop at NU (Google Images)