MATE ROV Underwater Robot
In my first year of college, I designed, manufactured, and assembled a servo-driven 2-degree-of-freedom robotic manipulator for a robot participating in the MATE ROV competition.
The goal of the competition was to develop a robot that would be able to pick up and transfer the highest number of game pieces to a different location within a specified period of time. The game is set underwater, and the robot should be able to manipulate objects of various sizes and shapes at different locations within the pool in which the competition takes place.
The team made a design decision that the robot has to remain upright at all times while underwater in order to make controlling it easier. For this reason, the manipulator had to be versatile in terms of the locations it could obtain the game pieces from, as well as be able to pick up a variety of differently sized objects.
To achieve that, I designed a 2-degree-of-freedom manipulator actuated by three servos. The claw is able to hold the game pieces of cylindrical shapes with diameters from 1/2" to 2"; the claw assembly is mounted onto a 360-degree rotary mechanism, enabling the manipulation of vertically and horizontally placed pieces; and this assembly is attached to the last stage of a custom gearbox, enabling a wide range of manipulator reach.
To ensure that the mechanism remains light in weight and to simplify manufacturing, I designed the manipulator to be primarily composed of the 3D-printed PLA and waterjetted aluminum parts. I further reduced the weight of the system by designing the lightning holes into the waterjetted parts. After manufacturing the parts, I was then able to assemble the system and attach it to the main frame of the robot.