2010 - PHRED IX
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Bernoulli Bot at Oregon Regional (2010)
In 2010, the game was called Breakaway and was, in essence, a game of soccer. The 27 by 54 foot carpeted field featured two goals at each end which bots tried to put balls through to score points. One point was given for each goal. Making the game more complex were two 13" tall "bumps" that split the field into three zones. Bots could traverse the bumps to move from one area to another or make use of the small tunnels that cut through the middle of the bump. On top of these tunnels were 9 foot towers that could be climbed by bots at the end of the match. A hanging bot scored two extra points while a bot suspended from a hanging bot scored 3 more points.
The game is played by two groups of three teams, called alliances. The two alliances are red and blue and the bumbers of a robot must be change to reflect which side they are playing on.
After exploring many options, it was decided that the bot should focus on scoring balls into the goals from a short range. This was achieved by giving the robot-which would come to be called Bernoulli Bot-a pneumatic powered kicker that would knock balls into the goal. The next part was to find a way to maintain control over the ball, but, because of the game rules, the robot was not allowed to grab it with something like and hand. The challenge was to direct the ball while only touching the back of it. To overcome this we implemented a fan that used the Bernoulli effect. The basic principle of this was that if you blow air at something fast, the air will have low pressure and the atmosphere will push the ball into the bot. The final innovative feature of the bot was the wheels. It featured mecanum wheels which allow the robot to move forwards, backwards, to strafe side-to-side, and to spin in place which allow extreme maneuverability. The only problem with this is that-due to the free spinning rollers on them, they have very little traction.
At the regional competition in Portland, Bernoulli Bot performed exceptionally, with its alliance placing 2nd out of 61 teams. In addition to being finalists, the team also won the regional animation award, Website Excellence Award, and the Imagry Award.
