Our final machine stuck mostly to the design that we have been discussing on this blog. The design consisted of three main modules: a car, a wedge arm, and a scoring arm. Collars connected the arms to the car, and all motors and other electrical equipment were mounted on the collars and the car. As we progressed throughout the manufacturing process, we made slight changes, but never anything radical. We found that some parts of our machine were not designed with enough detail. For example, we designed the mounting plates for some of our motors mere hours before building them. In all though, we were able to stick with a basic design and build it.
The wedge arm module was the first one built. This module consisted of a wedge to open the flipper and an arm that would allow for the wedge to move up and down. This module went through some troubles during the competition. The arm was not able to move down well, and so we couldn't effectively open the flipper. This may have been a result of not testing the arm while attached to the entire machine.
The scoring arm module consisted of a portion of a 3.5" diameter PVC tube and an aluminum arm similar to the one used for wedge. This module functioned very well in the competition and did its job. It could not scoop squash balls, but we were not expecting it to have that ability. Of the three modules, this one was probably our greatest success.
The final module was the frame. The frame held all of the electrical components and consisted of aluminum square tubes, mounting plates, collars, and wheels for driving. The frame held the entire machine together and was crucial for success. The frame probably was the least detailed designed coming into the manufacturing process. So many different parts had to go into the frame that we did not even realize. Fitting all of them together required creative hole placement and other such tricks. Nevertheless, this module did its job.
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