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Stage 1

Alphalpha Stage 1 was used to fulfill the requirements for Assignment 3. Assignment 3 required us to build a 2-wheel-drive vehicle which was able to drive straight, and upon hitting a wall, turn 90 degrees. This process would continue until the robot drove the distance of one square.

Stage 1 used a 75:1 gear-train and one caster in the back. Only 2 motors were used in this version. The birth of Stage 1 did not involve much thought, and was rather an effort just to make a moving vehicle that was relatively strong.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Since we felt the robot traveled too fast at a 75:1 gear ratio and we wanted it to be able to get over inclines on the board, we rebuilt the robot with a 125:1 gear. This time, we built it modular. Stage 2 boasted a more space-efficient gear box, and was now a front-wheel-drive vehicle with one caster in the back. The happyboard was placed on top of the batteries.

A happyboard mount was constructed; the mount was braced to itself tightly, and also braced onto the remainder of the robot, but placed on top of skid plates to allow for easy access to the batteries. Now, the gear box and the happyboard mount were both fully modular, allowing for future modifications. A ball collector was also built in the front.

Stage 2

Stage 3

We soon felt that Stage 2 was not up to our high standards: the weight was strangely concentrated at the back, while the wheels were in the front, making it hard to drive. The robot was filmsy and not very maneuverable. We decided to rebuild the robot once more. To keep the robot strong, we kept the batteries directly above the wheels. At first, we wanted a symmetrical vehicle, which could drive forwards and backwards identically, but we soon decided it was too complex and was unnecessary. We eliminated the large ball-collector which was present on the front because it took up too much space and was unnecessary. Instead, we placed axels near the edges of the front of the robot to allow for it to catch and plow balls. There was surprisingly small amounts of building needed to construct this version of Alphalpha: our modularization of the gear box and the happyboard proved extremely useful.

Stage 3 initially featured only 2 motors; soon after it struggled to navigate the board fluently, we decided to add 2 more motors into the gear train; luckily, we did not need to take apart the entire robot: only the bottom portion of the motor-mount needed to be removed. We used electrical tape to help keep the motors in place. Shortly afterwards, 2 more motors were added in a similar fashion, to allow for even more power and torque – we now had 6 motors in total, filling up all of the available motor ports.

Stage 1 Destroyed

Stage 3

Stage 3.3

We had wanted to include some sort of ball-sorter or ball-thrower since the beginning of 6.270. 1 day before the seeding-round, we decided to include a plow on the front of our robot which could be raised up to fulfill the dimensions requirement. The plow would later allow us to pick up balls against a side wall, and throw them either out of the board, or somewhere else. We knew that this feature of the robot was something “cool,” but was by no means necessary: we felt that making a “cool” robot would be more fun than something that was boring, but efficient.

Alphalpha’s plow was constructed and tested overnight with tremendous success (27 hours in building 38). Not only did it do something useful, it also allowed our robot to go from boring and mundane to incredibly awesome. At this point, we did not care that much if our robot lost- we were already proud of its capable plow.

Stage 3.3

Stage 3.3

Stage 3.3

Stage 3.3