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ROBOTICA

by Tom Cantrell

Start ı Fear and Loathing ı Blood, Sweat, and Duct Tape ıTrouble in Tinsel Town ı When the Musicıs Over ı Sources and PDF

BLOOD, SWEAT, AND DUCT TAPE

Amazingly, the team managed to pull it all together as the contest drew near. After an all-systems-go late night test session at a local park, the robot was christened Noll in honor of the local firm and lead sponsor, Noll Engineering.

Pictures (see Photo 2) canıt fully convey the sophistication of the teamıs work nor the fiendishness of their imagination. This monster is definitely not some overblown RC car or cute home amusement.

Frankly, weighing in at 200 lbs and hitting 15 mph, Noll is not something you want to run into in a dark alley, unless itıs on your side. I think the pneumatic Spike of Doom, delivering its 300-psi message in 0.1 s, makes the, er, point.

Back to L.A. Nerves were buzzing as the contest started with a preliminary qualifying round to seed out the top entries, those most likely to deliver a good show. This test vetted the basic steering and motive capabilities of the contenders, as well as their ability to take (and give) a licking and keep on ticking (see Photo 3).

Photo 3ıNoll lays some hurt on helpless cans in the preliminary qualifying round.

Second place in qualifyingıawesome! Everyone was stoked and anticipation was running high as Noll pulled to the starting line for the first head-to-head eventıa two-robot, figure-eight competition with points awarded for most laps, presuming you could make it through the intersection unscathed.

Sadly, the teamıs hopes were dashed shortly into the event. All of a sudden, the robot just started going in circles, clear evidence of catastrophic drive train failure.

The rules allow for repairs between events so the team raced back to the pit area. A frozen motor and a control board that looked like a burnt marshmallow confirmed the worst.

The good news was that they had enough spares to complete a swap. The bad news was they only had half an hour to get the job done.

Unfortunately, a stripped bolt and the exceptionally robust construction technique employed made the repair especially difficult. Remember, robots may be electronic, but weıre not talking about soldering irons and tweezers. Although there have been times I felt like it, I surely canıt recall ever taking a Sawz-All, power grinder, or arc welder to any of my homebrew electronic gadgets (see Photo 4).

Photo 4ıThe pits may have been the pits, but that was where the real action was.

But thatıs just what happened. Taking a collective deep breath, the team descended on the robot en masse like a swarm of "Tool Time" killer bees. Frankly, what I witnessed over the next 30 min. gave new meaning to the term "hacking." The sparks were flying, literally, as I informed Jed that his spiffy studio-supplied team coveralls were on fire.

As the clock wound down, the team raced to button their ıbot back together. With no time to rivet the panels back on, a final flurry of that favorite fix-all, duct tape, accompanied the buzzer.

Duct tape was also the Band-Aid of choice. The team may not have won the contest, but Iım pretty sure theyıre contenders for the most-visits-from-the-studio-nurse prize. This stuff is real handy to have around next time you happen to burn a hole in your coveralls, too.

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