18-19 Rover Ruckus

The robot

Robot Name

The Team

Team: Matthew, Elijah, Abby, Zach, Nathan L, Josh, Nathan R Coaches/Mentors: Nick, Jennifer, Warren, Jeff, Charles, Scott

THe Task

In Rover Ruckus, teams compete to score points by scanning Glyphs into Cryptoboxes, transferring Relics to the Recovery Zone, retrieving Jewels, balancing on the Balancing Stones, and collecting Minerals to place into the cargo holds of a lander.

Key game elements

  • Lander

  • Crater

  • Minerals (yellow cubes and white spheres)

design considerations

  • Need to quickly lift and lower the robot from the lander

  • Need to accurately detect the yellow mineral

  • Need to reduce the time between collecting minerals and delivering to lander

  • Need to accurately sort the minerals into the correct side of the lander


The Solutions

The Hook

The robot is attached to the lander by a metal hook. The hook is attached to a rack-and-pinion slide mechanism powered by two motors to raise/lower the robot very quickly.

The camera

A webcam is mounted to the front of the robot to detect the yellow/cube mineral. This enables the autonomous program to identify the correct placement of that mineral.

The arms

Two arms extend forward to collect minerals from the crater. The same arms are able to rotate over the top of the robot so that minerals can be deposited without having to turn the robot.

The sorting box

A custom 3D-printed collection box has two different sized openings to deposit the minerals. The box is angled in a way that when properly positioned, the robot may deliver minerals of both types to the correct location with a single move.