Vex Worlds

So this Tuesday I am going to the Vex Robotics World Championships in Dallas, and wanted to share what this year's worlds bot is. It has three key features. First is the 6 wheeled tank drive, which drives the bot. The wheels are all chained together, so every wheel receives power even if one motor breaks. Also, if one or all of the chain breaks, because the chain is plastic, we don't lose power to all of the wheels. The drive changes from chained drive to direct 4-wheel drive. This makes the wheels run at different speeds, but the driver can compensate. Next, is our tower with a four bar linkage. This is where four bars are connected to two points. The bars are exactly the same length, so when they rotate around the two points, the object being held maintains the same angle no matter what. Because we can then have a vertical angle when depositing cubes, gravity assists us, and doesnt fight our progress. Finally the BHM or block handling mechanism in the front has a small gear reduction connected to tank tread. This tread along with carefully placed zip-ties picks up cubes while maintaining the same speed, even with the friction of the cubes against the tread.

Thanks for reading,
Mark.