Robotics

Tipsy

“Tipsy” is the name of the one-pound antweight flipper robot that I’m currently working on with Maya Cheshire, also a student at the University of Illinois. It uses a 35kg servo for lifting purposes, along with a pair of Repeat Robotics Brushed MK2s for driving and a Malenki Nano HV to put everything together. We designed the robot in Fusion and printed it with PLA filament. There are many characteristics of Tipsy that we optimized when CADing; for example, all four sides are downward-sloping wedges to ensure that no one gets under us and flips us. We also implemented a dustpan-shaped flipper attachment with backwards-facing teeth to give the robot a wider catchment area.

Competitions so far have been interesting. We’ve gone to two of them so far and didn’t do particularly well at either, but it has been a tremendous learning experience for both of us. For example, we’ve realized the importance of having an accessible switch mount on the top plate of the robot to turn it on. I hope to implement this, as well as a couple more changes that could make “Tipsy” into more of a “Flipsy” robot, for our next competition in February. Stay tuned!