The first robot we’ll be covering is Anxieti, a 30 lb undercutter. Anxiety uses a weapon with a large diameter and a single tooth in an effort to deliver heavy blows to enemy combatants. Additionally, Anxieti uses angled armor that makes a consistent 30 degree angle to deflect blows from enemies. According to Lucas McCarty, the bot lead, one of the other major design choices being made is eliminating puzzle fits (i.e., tabs that fit into cutouts in plates, often used in RJ combat robots).

This decision was made after feedback from Chris (Carlson) from Deep Six which went against [the way RJ had been designing bots). After that design review, our chassis team decided to rework their entire design in order to remove internal framing and puzzle fits leading to more space and weight efficiency. It remains to be seen whether this description will pay off in battle, but if it does, it could mean an exciting new trend for future RoboJackets creations.

The next major milestone for the team is finishing the CNC milling of their corner brackets.

The next robot is Chonkiii, the third iteration of a 30 lb shuffling shell spinner. Because it uses a shuffling system instead of wheels, it is eligible for a 150% weight bonus, meaning it will actually weigh 45 lbs. The major improvements with its third iteration are improving traction in the shuffling system, implementing a self-righting mechanism, and more durable shells.

To improve traction, the team is planning to use spikes that dig into the ground. “To successfully compete with the speeds of the other robots, we need more traction between the ground and our shuffling feet system,” said Sydney Baker, the bot lead on Chonkiii. She continued: “So, the previous method of hot glue will be experimentally tested against new specially applied spikes.”

The self-righting mechanism has taken the form of a bent bar affixed to the center of the robot. Sydney outlines how it works: “the self-righting bar will extend up and outward from the robot, acting as a lever arm to push against the ground and shove it back up right.” Finally, the team is planning to manufacture two shells, “to counter specific bot types and encourage glancing hits from each. One shell with a 45 degree slant to counteract undercutters and the other with 90 degree slant to face off against verticals and drums.” Additionally, Sydney notes: “The shell will also be manufactured out of a harder steel, AR 400, to prevent large dents to the shell.” 

The team has completed many waterjet parts and CNC milled central components of the shell support system.

Next up is Hockii, a 15 lb meltybrain (IE, a robot whose entire body spins and moves laterally by changing the speed ratios between its two wheels).  Hockii is seeing some major changes in its third iteration, says Steven Zhao, robot lead: 

For mechanical, Hockii is going through a major overhaul. We’re increasing the diameter of the chassis while also shortening the height. Last year we learned that any loose wires were prone to breaking free after hits, so we’re adding a clamshell to house all the internal electronics and wiring. Since the competition we’re planning on attending has wooden floors, we’re also changing to titanium wheels for more grip. Finally, we’re switching to sensored motors for greater control at low speeds, and changing to VESCs to be able to fully utilize the sensored motors.

Electrical is also seeing some major changes, including “reducing the size of our PCB by a lot, as we are no longer using an IR sensor, and we’re adding a magnetometer to get a better estimate of our position.” Finally, software is making changes to address the electrical changes, as well as: “testing an extended Kalman Filter to hopefully improve the estimate of our position further. We are also planning on fixing the translational drift code for control over Hockii while it is spinning.”

The mechanical and electrical design are completed and awaiting components to begin full manufacturing. The team is currently testing the software improvements. 

The final large robot BattleBots is working on this year is Tsunami, a 30 lb beater bar. Like Anxieti, Tsunami has a large weapon to deliver hard hits to enemy robots. “Our bot will be tilted upwards to accommodate the large weapon diameter without needing massive wheels,” said Knute Broady, the bot lead for Tsunami. He also mentioned a few other design features worth highlighting: 

Our side rails are made of 7/8th in aluminum, which is comparatively much thicker than we normally use. We used FEA to remove material while retaining as much strength as possible, and are using CNC machining to make the parts. We’re also incorporating some materials that RJ hasn’t used much in the past few years. Our outer armor is mostly UHMW, and our top and bottom plates are Titanium.

Tsunami has done as much manufacturing as they can with the materials they had on hand, and are waiting to receive parts.

RoboJackets has hit the ground running this semester with manufacturing the big bots, and most are only seeing delays in getting parts that they’ve ordered. The team is looking forward to another generation of robots competing at NHRL for the first time.

The team has been preparing for this huge new challenge throughout the last two years. The administrative planning has long been complete, and the team has already made great strides in their technical groundwork. We interviewed the team leads to understand their progress so far and upcoming goals and challenges for this year. 

The mechanical subteam, led by Matthew Fernandez, provides the base functionality and mobility for all other teams. Throughout the years in IGVC, the team has learned how important it is to provide a good amount of software and electrical testing time with a working, moving robot. This is even more true when there are many new systems to roll out and test, as is the case this year with the new challenges brought on by URC. Because of this, the mechanical subteam has been working hard to finalize their designs and begin manufacturing as soon as possible. You may remember a feature piece from May 2022 which went through the end effector design for the robotic arm, which will be used to tighten screws, push buttons, and open latches in URC’s equipment servicing mission. The overall arm design has since been mostly completed in CAD.

The drivetrain for the robot also recently went through a design review and received some great feedback thanks to alumni Matt Barulic and Jonathan Spalten. The rover will use a rocker-bogie system to traverse the rough terrain expected in URC. The two rocker-bogie legs are attached to the main chassis with a differential, which allows uneven movement, further stabilizing the chassis of the robot.

Lastly, the wheels of the rover are designed with compliant spokes to allow compression and uniform stiffness. The custom designed wheels will be 3D-printed and attached to the motor assembly with a cage to provide some additional support. The compliance of the wheel design was studied by the mechanical team using FEA to help select the thickness of the material.

The upcoming goals for mechanical this year include training and onboarding their new members, then proceeding with the final design details and manufacturing of the robot. 

The software subteam has been hard at work laying the foundation for URC. Though the challenge still includes autonomous navigation, there are many other considerations that come into play with the inclusion of a tele-operation requirement and robotic arm control. Lead Aidan Stickan states that “URC is much different than IGVC because it has a teleoperation component in addition to the fully autonomous navigation mission. Also whereas IGVC was a true black-box SLAM situation on the mapping front, URC allowing satellite images to be parsed in between checkpoints cuts back on the mapping [and] localization complexity significantly.” In sum, the software design for URC focuses more on autonomous decision-making, remote communication, and inverse kinematics, whereas IGVC focused more on localization and computer vision. 

So far, the software team has written the lower level nodes of the software stack which face hardware and are used to control the rover, like motor controllers and joystick control. One of the changes from IGVC to URC is the implementation of a traversability costmap. The costmap grid is filled with squares that include the height of the terrain, as seen by the robot’s LiDAR. This information is then used to path efficiently while still avoiding steep drop offs or climbs that may present a challenge for the rover. The team is now very close to having a traversability costmap solution, and an early prototype of the behavior tree (critical for enabling the robot to make choices out in the field) has been completed.

Behavior tree

Electrical has primarily been doing research on the major components needed for the rover. Future work will be divided into a few core areas such as motors, firmware development, and communications (radio, etc.). Electrical this year will heavily overlap with other subteams to give feedback and be well prepared for integration.

The science subteam is a new addition to Robonav. Led by Elijah Vasquez, this team is bravely going where no RoboJackets team has ever gone before: biology. URC includes the requirement for the robot to onboard soil samples and analyze them for signs of life. Therefore, the science subteam has identified some basic chemical tests for life detection and will work closely with the mechanical and electrical sub-teams to implement a soil sampling module on the robot. The next steps include testing out the proposed experiments and determining which one would be the best fit in terms of the mechanical and electrical constraints.

After speaking with each RoboNav team lead, it is clear that tons of hard work and great engineering has already poured into their rover, nicknamed Walli. Many of the challenges lying ahead, such as robotic arm control, soil sampling, and tele-operation of the robot, are intrinsically multidisciplinary and will require excellent communication between the subteams. This year’s project manager, Priyanka Rajan, states that “Cohesion of the team as a whole is also a priority. By continuing educational presentations on major design decisions and having frequent all-hands meetings we hope to strengthen ties and create a stronger sense of community between members of different subteams.” Although qualifying for URC in the team’s first year is a big ask, she remains positive. “This year is definitely going to be a big challenge for RoboNav, first because this is our first year working toward the URC competition, and second because we’re very ambitious in our goals. I’m really excited and optimistic, though, because we’ve got an incredible group of hardworking, passionate, and dedicated members going into this. Our team has already hit the ground running, so I’m confident we’ll create something great. I can’t wait to show everyone what RoboNav can do!”

We will check back in a few months to see even more progress from the Robonav team. Here are some important dates for the students coming up:

• October 26, 2022: URC Registration Deadline
• December 2, 2022: Preliminary Design Review Deadline
• March 3, 2023: System Acceptance Review Deadline
• May 31 – June 3, 2023: URC2023 Finals

If you’re interested in learning more about the URC guidelines and challenges, check out the 2023 official rulebook. If you’re interested in participating in future design reviews, like the one for the drivetrain or robotic arm, join the alumni slack to get notified.

Every year, RoboJackets reserves a lecture hall in Howey to host General Interest meetings, where new students at Georgia Tech can come and hear more about RoboJackets so they can pick their teams and join RoboJackets in earnest. 

This year’s GI drew a combined 317 interested students. RoboCup and RoboNav saw the highest number of signups, with 108 and 102 respectively. URC, RoboNav’s new competition, has brought significant energy to the returning team, and seems to have done the same for new recruits.

In addition to our typical recruiting methods, primarily from tabling at events like the org fair and posting on social media, RoboNav has been recruiting from the College of Sciences as well to find members that can help them address the science challenge of URC.

Zach Slaton, president, had this to say about GI: “I was very satisfied with how GI went. Attendance was good, and I was excited by the enthusiasm the PMs brought to the presentations.”

RoboCup – Kevin Fu

Our RoboCup Project Manager for the year is Kevin Fu. He is a Computer Science 3rd year, being originally from the Northern Virginia area. In the past year, he has started skateboarding and apologies in advance for zooming by on his electric board. Before becoming Project Manager, he was originally the Software Sub-team Lead for RoboCup and he has been quite fulfilled in this new role. His favorite aspect of RoboJackets has been the opportunity to grow his skills in a collaborative environment, compared to more individual learning experiences of course work. The part he is looking forward to the most as PM this year is definitely, “getting the robots back on the field. The years I’ve been here I have never seen multiple robots coordinated at once on the field.”

RoboNav – Priyanka Rajan

Priyanka Rajan will be serving as the RoboNav Project Manager for this year. Priyanka is a 2nd year Computer Science major from Princeton, New Jersey. Outside of RoboJackets, she is also a member of the Society of Women in Business, a former competitive figure skater, and loves singing and writing music! PM is Pryanka’s first leadership role in RoboJackets, originally part of the RoboNav software team. She thinks there is a lot to love about RoboJackets, from the interesting robotics problems being solved with the members of the organization that she describes as, ”a great group of hardworking, dedicated, and openhearted people who are always willing to share what they know.” She really appreciates the opportunity as PM to be organizing and collaborating with the subteams to have a deeper understanding of the technical aspects in each of the disciplines and is excited to lead the team as it transitions to the University Rover Challenge.  

RoboRacing – Meghan Huang

The Project Manager for RoboRacing this year is Meghan Huang. She is a 3rd year Mechanical Engineering major from Buford, Georgia. She is currently a PI at the Hive Makerspace. Outside of technical work she enjoys playing the violin. The aspect she enjoyed most about RoboJackets was that, 

“Despite not having any experience, everyone was very welcoming and created a fun experience that I hope that new members will also have in the future.”

As the RoboRacing Project Manager, she is looking forward to working with the team to make Rigantoniii perform even better, especially steering. 

RoboWrestling – James Mead and Jason Katz

James Mead will be serving as the RoboWrestling Project Manager for the fall semester. He is a 3rd year mechanical engineering major from Eatonton, Georgia

A fun fact about him is that he speaks Japanese, and he enjoys rock climbing, video games and trying new food. He started as a member of RoboWrestling mechanical, and currently serves as the mechanical lead and fall PM. James really appreciates not only the technical learning which you normally don’t receive in the classroom, but also the opportunity to meet “some pretty cool people”. While PM, he looks forward to getting new members involved and leading the team to a Sumo competition, which with travel restrictions they have been unable to do for many years. 

Jason Katz 

Serving as RoboWrestling Project Manager for the spring semester, Jason Katz is an Electrical Engineering major from Delray Beach, FL in his 3rd year at Tech. Some hobbies he enjoys outside of RoboJackets include playing chess, basketball, and video games along with watching football. Last year he served as the RoboWrestling mechanical sub-team lead and helped with mechanical training. The aspect he has most enjoyed in the organization is the complete engineering cycle of designing a robot and then seeing the robot actually come to fruition. Jason is looking forward to guiding RoboWrestling to the first competition in three years.

BattleBots – Brian Naing

Brian Naing will be the BattleBots project manager for this year. From Yangon, Myanmar,  he is a third year mechanical engineering major. Some of his favorite activities outside of RoboJackets include cooking, sleeping, watching anime and playing video games. A fun fact about him is that he was a Buddist monk for 3 days! Prior to being PM, Brian worked on two different horizontal spinner bots in BattleBots. The aspects of RoboJackets that he has enjoyed the most is the ability to take what is learned in class and apply it to real engineering problems alongside the great community of fellow members. While being PM, Brian aims to reduce the amount of barriers for his team, like replacing tools and encouraging documentation, to increase performance and efficiency of the team. He said, 

“As PM, I think my teams deserve the best and I spend a lot of time trying to make sure they’re fully equipped to build the best bots they can and be supported in any way they need.”

The Leadership retreat was a tradition that began in 2015, involving the president, secretary, and leadership team. Today, the leadership retreat involves the elected core officers, project managers, subteam leads, and appointed positions, as well as a group of RoboJackets alumni. This is the second year that alumni have helped in the planning and execution of Leadership retreat, and they offered specialized leadership training which draws on their personal, professional, and RoboJackets experiences. 

A few weeks before the retreat, the president and alumni meet to select topics of discussion for the event. This year, president Zach Slaton highlighted “cohesion” as a topic, as many officers felt that the effects of COVID caused the organization to become more fragmented. At the retreat, the officers discussed ways of promoting inter-team communication. Alumni were also present to offer historical context and advice regarding the problems presented.

The leadership retreat also featured an assortment of activities, games, and socializing to help the students enjoy themselves and get to know each other better. RoboJackets Alum Sarah Storer prepared a team building activity for the students, tasking them with creating a tower out of crafting materials, capable of supporting a golf ball. Teams were scored in multiple aspects allowing them an opportunity to creatively select goals (tying in with a retreat discussion topic).