Naval Battle Robot in UM-JI

Introduction for the robot

In this manual, you will be taught how to make a naval battle robot with PS2 controller. As group X for the VG100 course, a course designed for freshman aiming at cultivating the ability of designing and cooperation, of the UM-JI (Picture 1 is the scenery of our campus). UM-JI refers to University of Michigan Joint Institute, which is situated in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Our robot attended the naval battle competition and won a good score. Our team is named “fly blue”, which indicates our yearning for flying in the blue sky (Picture 2 is the logo of our team).

In the competition, robots, which are considered as battleships, are required to move the cannons (ping pong balls and wooden balls) into the opponents’ field. The competition consists of two parts, one is to complete the match alone in three minutes, while the other part is to compete with other naval battle robots. A ping pong ball is worth 1 points when moved into opponents’ field, while a wooden is worth 4 points. You should make as many points as possible in both matches. In multiple competition, the one scored more wins the match.

The limits of the robot are listed as following:

●Dimension limit for robots: 350mm*350mm*200mm

●Central Control Circuit: Arduino Series

●Motors: 12V, provided by the teachers

●Remote control: PS2 controller

We use PS2 to control the robot. We designed the robot as a tractor shovel. The shovel can lift 2 wooden balls to the opponents’ area once a time. To make the robot be controlled easily and conveniently, we made the shovel into three parts, and each part is controlled by a servo motor so that it is , which satisfies the dimension limit for robots. The attached figure 3 is the concept diagram of out robot. The figure 4 is the concept graph for the battle field.

In this manual we attach a video about our robot of the competition.

Here is the link of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLYVCmj1rjg&feature=youtu.be

Materials Needed

Prepare the materials as the diagram shows. For further information, please view appendix to see the exact picture and how to buy it.

Circuit Diagram

The circuit diagram is shown in the picture.

Cutting the Acrylic Board

Download the software AutoCad and draw thegraphs needed to cut.
Use an automatic Acrylic laser cutter to cut the Acrylic Board according to the graph. It will cut your board automatically. The graph needed to cut is shown in the attached figure 5. Note: You should make sure the small hole at proper size so that it can be for screws.

Downloads

BASE.DWG

Assemble the Tires and Motors

The tires to assemble include two big wheels as driving tires and one small tire.

●Fix each tire with four M3 screws. Then fix the motor beside the tires in the back of the robot.

●Use the wheelnut to fix two tires in the back of the robot.

Note: You are supposed not to assemble the wheels upside down. Check each tire whether the screw is tightly turned to prevent tires from dropping.

Use 3D Printer to Print the Shovel

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The 3D model of the shovel is depicted in the file.

Note: If you aren’t able to print it, you can use cardboard to make it by hand.

Downloads

LOAD.STL

Connect the Robotic Arm With Shovel

In this step, fix the servo motor on the
robotic arm first. Fix each servo motor on the pointed spot. Then use screws to connect the robotic arm with shovel. The position to fix the servo motor is shown in the picture.

●Wind a layer of insulating tape on each servo motor to prevent short circuit.

●For each servo motor, use four screws to fix it on the robotic arm. There are three servo motors to be installed, so there should be twelve screws to fix altogether.

●Use four screws to connect the shovel. The position of the screws should be at the left and right side of the shovel shaft.

●Assemble two wooden piece on the front of the robot.

Note: Check whether every servo motor works before the step. After connecting, assure that every screw is at its right position so that it wouldn’t loosen.

Assemble the Robotic Arm

Similar to the previous step, here we assemble the robotic arm with shovel on the acrylic board.

●The robotic arm should be placed towards the front side.

●Use four screws to fix the robotic arm on the acrylic board.

Fix the Motor Control Module and Batteries

After assembling the robotic arm, now we fix items on the back of the robot.

●Examine whether the battery should be charged. If it remains to be charge, then charge it before assembling it.

●Fix four screws at each corner of the motor control module to fix it on the acrylic board. Pay attention to the direction of the motor control module, and it should be same as the picture shown.

●Put lithium battery 1 and lithium battery 2(labelled at the concept diagram) on the lower left corner and lower right corner respectively. Use insulating tape to fix them.

Note: Don’t make the lithium battery short circuit, or it may burn out of control.

Assemble Arduino Uno Board and Bread Board

This is the last step to assemble items. We should assemble the Bread Board first.

●Cut the bread board so that it only remains the left two columns used as positive and negative pole of the power supply. The length of the bread board should be consistent with the robots’ width.

●Use glue to stick the bread board on the place ahead and adjacent to the battery. Wait until the glue becomes dry.

●Place the Arduino Uno Board on the acrylic board. Just place it.

●Fix the battery at the bottom of the robotic arm to give arduino current supply.

Note: Before connection the circuit, check whether the bread board is well placed. You may use the bread board to test what is wrong in the circuit. If all are right, you can skip this step.