The Task:
Design and build a Pneumatically Levitated Athletic Yacht-Emulating Robot (PLAYER) and companion Communication-Oriented Assistive Control Hardware (COACH) (aka controller). The COACH must be able to operate any of the soccer PLAYERs in the class and conversely the PLAYER must be controllable from any of the COACHs built by other teams.
To create our PLAYER-COACH system, we utilized a C32, two PIC16F690's and an E128. To enhance the overall experience we selected a Back to the Future theme to apply across each element.
The PLAYER:
The PLAYER is a small (less than 1.75' x 2') hovercraft that must use the provided blower fan as its only source of lift. The propulsion and steering systems are up to the individual teams, and must not interact with the ground in any manner except to drag in the form of a brake. Each PLAYER must be battery powered and be capable of self propulsion around the field. In addition, each PLAYER must have a 'team select' switch, as well as display its current 'energy level' as reported to it by an on-board micro-controller (over SPI), also provided. The PLAYER should be able to somehow mechanically 'kick' the ball when instructed by a COACH, however at the lowest state it should be 'too tired' to kick. The PLAYER must be able to respond to commands from any properly paired COACH.
Our PLAYER, in keeping with our theme, is modeled after the DeLorean time machine from the Back to the Future trilogy. Thrust and directional control were provided by two ducted fans with rudders mounted at the rear of the craft. The 'kicker' is an actuated front bumper that rotates up. To display the energy state there is a scale model of a Flux Capacitor mounted to the rear of the craft, the lights in it dim and go out as energy level decreases. At the lowest energy state the lighting rod/hook from the first movie extends as the craft searches for more energy.
The COACH:
The COACH's purpose is to wirelessly relate commands from a human operator to a PLAYER, and to receive and display status information about the PLAYER. In order to do this effectively, there should be an indication of active communication with a PLAYER, as well as a way to select which team the COACH is on and which PLAYER it is communicating with. Inputs to the COACH must involve at least three sensing modalities, and the COACH should be battery powered and capable of running for at least 8 hours.
Our COACH is modeled after the Gibson guitar played by Marty at the end of the first Back to the Future. The user controls speed by pressing at different points on a linear potentiometer that stretches down the neck of the guitar, with 'higher pitched notes' corresponding to increased speed (and a higher pitch coming from the fans on the DeLorean). An FSR is placed at the end of this linear potentiometer and is used to request a reverse direction from the fans. A 16 position knob is utilized for player number selection, and a blue LED lights up when successfully paired and communicating. The energy status of the pared bot is displayed by a curve of LEDs along the base of the guitar.
The World Cup:
WORLD CUP (Watch Our Robots Levitate During Championship University Presentations) is played between two teams on a 10 by 25 foot field. The object of the game is to score goals by kicking a ball into the opposing team's goal. At any time, up to three robots from a single team may be active; the rest are to be waiting in the on-deck regions. When a PLAYER runs out of energy, it must go to an available on-deck region and tag out. Once tagged out, another robot on the team who has energy may tag-in and begin play. On deck robots will slowly gain energy, and be available to play again in about a minute. Each game lasts about 8 minutes.