FTC 2018 Robot Linkage Mechanism

I created components of this robot during the 2019-2020 FIRST Tech Challenge season, my second year competing in the challenge and my first year on Team Overdrive (FTC 2753). I created a four-bar linkage mechanism to raise and lower the intake as the challenge required extending over a plastic wall to intake scoring elements. This linkage system used hooks on its underside to catch on the wall and flip down the intake passively, as I was limited by the number of motors I could include in this subsystem.

This was my first experience with custom fabrication with aluminum and polycarbonate sheet stock. My design used 3D-printed parts in supplementary roles–a first for the team. This was also my first major production project using Autodesk Inventor, with CAD simulation being essential to ensure precise functioning of the linkage system.

Robot qualified the team for states before being replaced with a lighter and more efficient servo-based mechanism.