Leland Robotics Blog

Today a small group of our team went to NASA Ames to test out our robot on their practice field. We learned a lot about our robot and will use what we learned to help make our robot even better!

Going over the bumps in second gear

Our machine shop sponsor finished our wheels for this year! The are made of two pieces of aluminum and anodized black. Many thanks to our sponsors!

Our wheel before anodization

Black Anodized Wheels

Today our sponsor finished machining the tubing used to construct our chassis. They even have “Leland High Team 604 Quixilver” engraved on them!

Our nearly completed chassis

Today we had our design review for our current robot concept. We invited engineers from our community to give their input on our design. We learned a lot from the discussion and will incorporate many of what we talked about into our final design.

Going over the chassis design

A shot of everyone who attended

Our third and final prototype chassis was an eight-wheel-drive chassis. It turns as well as the six-wheel-drive prototype, and goes over much more smoothly. We have learned a lot from our prototype chassis and will be making a final decision on what we will use in competition soon!

Prototype 8-wheel-drive chassis

After assembling the KitBot chassis, we decided to test something we were more familiar with: a six-wheel-drive chassis. However, in order to aid in going over the bump, we used large 8″ wheels. This chassis turned much better than the KitBot, but going over the bump was a bit rough. We will try one more chassis concept.

Assembling the second test chassis

Complete six wheel test chassis

Due to this year’s unique terrain challenge, our team decided to prototype many feasible chassis designs. Today we assembled the KitBot, the basic chassis that comes in the Kit of Parts. We found that although it goes over the bump nicely, it does not turn well. We will test more chassis designs in the upcoming week.

Assembling the KitBot

Putting an old electronics board on the KitBot