Mechanical
RobotX 2024 > Mechanical
Overview
The driving requirement this year was ease maintenance and to isolate the electrical noise of high-power systems from our sensitive electronics as positional awareness and navigation is paramount for autonomy. We came up with a list of requirements which different subteams and capstone teams would work on to complete the required tasks. We worked closely with parts vendors and mentors with experience in autonomous boats to develop our boat.
Super Structure MAE 156B WI 24
The Superstructure is a superset of power and control subsystems, all being connected by an 80/20 aluminum rail substructure, developed by the 2024 Winter Quarter MAE 156b capstone team. The Superstructure consists of the power distribution enclosure (starboard), the electronics enclosure (port) and the battery enclosure (aft). The battery enclosure is attached to the 80/20 substructure by separate brackets, and the 80/20 substructure is attached to the WAM-V by the aft brackets going through the rear arches and the front arches through the fore mount. The battery enclosure has quick release pins for securing on top plate and both side enclosures open downwards making it easy to access all the electrical components.
Propulsion System
Because of the competition is focused on autonomy, having fine control of the boat’s movement is critical. The back thrusters have capability to azimuth (yaw) +- 15 degrees. The forward vectored thrusters (FVT) are stationary and angled at 45 degrees. Combining thrust will enable sideways movement. The front vectored thrusters fold upwards to stow enabling us to put the boat on the trailer.
Racquet Ball Launcher
We changed our design from last year to a compressed air raquetball launcher that uses solenoids and custom air canisters made of schedule 40 PVC pipes that are 2 inches in diameter. The custom canisters are rated to ~200 psi, though the range of 20-40 psi gave us our preferred horizontal trajectory distance. The configuration for mounting the launchers is still in work. The left picture is of our mockup in CAD mockup and on the right is our test setup for the launcher.
