MECH3433 – Robotics, drones and

autonomous ground vehicles

Task 2 – Mechanism design

for ROBOCON 2020 gripper
Dr. Ka-Wai KWOK
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Teaching Assistants:

Zi-Yang (Mattrew) Dong Zhuo-Liang (Liam) He

Learning outcome

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

▪ Implement basic engineering principles and knowledge (e.g.

computer-aided product development, and basic electronics) on
the hardware development.

▪ Through “hands-on” experience, fill in the gap between

mechanism design, machining (machine processing), and
prototyping.
Background – ROBOCON 2020

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xAYY9qSZiY&feature=emb_logo
Background – ROBOCON 2020

“Kick ball (rugby)” and the “Tee”.

Left - Kick Ball: A standard size 3 rugby ball colored yellow. It is only used for kicking
through the Conversion Post.
Right - Tee: An object that must be used to securely support the Kick Ball.
Objective

▪ Task description
Two steps are included in the task:
- The “kick ball (rugby)” and the “Tee” are loaded on the robot manually
- The robot places the “kick ball (rugby)” along with the “Tee” on the ground stably.

▪ Task requirements
During the task, requirements below should be fulfilled:
- Before the placement, the robot should be able to steadily hold the rugby and Tee
about 10cm from the ground
- The rugby is placed on the “Tee” freely without adhesive or any equivalent material
- The rugby and “Tee” cannot be modified or damaged
- During the placement, the “Tee” should be the one who touches the ground
- The rugby should stand on the “Tee” with the long axis of ellipsoid vertical or nearly
vertical (as shown in next slide)
- The rugby should steadily stand on the “Tee” during and after the placement
Objective – Task description

Kick ball (rugby)

Tee

Correct way of placing the Tee and the rugby on the ground
Objective – Task description

Manually load the The rugby and Tee are

rugby and Tee on held/gripped/housed by
> 10 cm the robot > 10 cm the robot

1 2
Rugby and Tee
stands steadily on
The robot place the ground
the rugby and the
Tee on the ground

3 4
Example– A gripper and linear guide

Desired mechanism

Gripping Placing Releasing

Kick ball (rugby)

The desired mechanism could Rugby and Tee

be a gripper, a holder, a cage stands stably on
or even a/an …. the ground

Use your imagination! Tee

Materials

▪ Provided machining method

3D printing (FDM) and laser cutting (for acrylic and wood plate)

▪ Provided materials and tools for each team:

o Materials
DJI M3508 motor x 2, C620 Motor Controller x 1, 24V Battery and
Charger x 1, Arduino x 1, Structural materials, Dubon wire, Copper wire,
magnetic switch, screws, nuts etc.
o Tools
Screwdriver, file, hammer etc.

▪ Software
Solidworks, Takyon driver (link), RoboMaster Assistant V1.9 (link),
RoboMaster C620 Demo code V1.0 (link)
Evaluation criteria

▪ Two levels of finishing the task

1. Conduct the robot design and build a prototype. The motor(s) of the prototype can
drive the rugby and Tee to move.
2. In addition to completing level 1, the prototype can place rugby and Tee on the
ground with desired post steadily.

▪ Bonuses
1. Performance optimization and evaluation/analysis
✓ Higher grades will also be considered if the prototype could be optimized and
evaluated in regard to repeatability, response, efficiency and so on. For
example, a test for frequency response.
2. Additional mechanism design: rugby kicking mechanism
✓ The team will be given higher grades if a mechanism for rugby kicking can be
designed and demonstrated. This mechanism should be integrated with the
original prototype. This mechanism should be able to hit the ball by the means
of contact for a distance of more than 0.5 meters.
Evaluation criteria
By the time of evaluation, you should deliver:
▪ A PPT presentation with demonstration videos of your finalized prototypes. Each group
member has to give a 5 mins speech
▪ Your 3D drawings of the prototype

The prototype will be reviewed under the following aspects:

• Design (major)
We will review your mechanical design from your 3D drawings.
Higher grade will be given to:
• the drawing with a successful assembly of the proposed robot, which allow us to
move/drag components to preview the functions.
• a more simple and concise design/mechanism to achieve the same function.
• Performance (major)
We will evaluate the performance of your prototype from the video you shows.
Performance index:
• Success rate/repeatability: the video should show the prototype conducts the task in
consecutive 10 times (success rate: as high as possible).
• Task completion time: as fast as possible
• Robot stability
• Appearance (minor)
• Presentation (minor)
Others

For more about the game rule of Robocon 2020, please refer to:
https://www.aburobocon2020.com.fj/wp-
content/uploads/2019/10/ABU_Robocon_2020_Rulebook_S
ep_30.pdf

For more about the Robocon competition, please refer to:

https://www.aburobocon2020.com.fj/