Kickoff!

At 3pm we gathered in the workshop, ready for our annual ritual, the kickoff sleepover. At about 6:30, the tasks in this year's robot game, called Reefscape, were revealed.

The first task is to hang pieces of hollow pvc pipe on poles resembling a coat rack. The next task is to throw almost beach-ball like game pieces into a net, about 2 meters off the ground. 

Given the distribution of points, we immediately determined that the pipes were our main target. 

Each team gets one last chance to score points at the end of the match, when they must latch onto an iron half-meter high cage suspended by a chain. The tricky part of this task is that the robot has to stay on the cage for five seconds after the end of the match, when it is completely switched off.

Bonus points will be awarded to those who manage some of these tasks in the first 15 seconds, when the robot has to control itself completely autonomously.

After listening to the introductory explanation, it was time to study the game rules thoroughly. This over 150 page long document contains all all the information about the game, the different pieces, robot specifications and the code of conduct. 

Half an hour after the end of the broadcast, the first robot concepts were already being created on whiteboards. Within an hour or so, the entire building was echoing with discussions of specific mechanisms.

Before midnight, the debate moved to the workshop, where the final design direction was agreed upon. Our vision includes many elements that our team has experience with from previous years, combined with creative innovations forced by the new rules. The biggest challenge will probably be climbing.

The first version of the feeder for collecting pipes into the robot was built before midnight. While this version mainly used a wooden, improvised system and a manually powered drill, its success confirmed us in the potential of this concept. By 12:30 a.m., we had a version with two axes and two drills that could both lift the pipe off the ground and deliver it to the inside of the robot. 

We also agreed on the size of the chassis and the layout of the mechanisms, battery, electrical wiring and cables across the chassis. This gave us a foundation and allowed us to know our space and weight limitations for each part of the robot.