After a semester of hard work, the competition is over. Although we didn't fare well in the seeding round or the expo, our machine worked and we were able to score during practice. It was well assembled and the only system that didn't work consistently was the control box, which caused it to veer off course more than once during the seeding rounds and the expo itself. The main issue most likely dealt with faulty wiring as pushing forward on the controller did not result in the machine moving forward.
We used the double gearbox mounted on the bottom of the acrylic plate as the drive system. The axles went through pillow blocks made out of rectangular aluminum tube stock with bronze sleeve bearings press fit into them and we used 4in polyurethane wheels from McMaster-Carr. The rear of the machine was supported by a caster wheel, also listed in the bill of materials.
On top of the baseplate, the MCM was mounted using angled fasteners and a 1/8th inch aluminum sheet. We used the planetary gearbox for its rotational symmetry and the ease with which it can be mounted vertically. A 1/4th inch rod sticks up vertically as our MCM axle and has a length of plastic chain from McMaster attached using male electrical connectors, a 3in extension spring, and copper wire. The arm worked to perfection on the wave field and immediately knocked off two balls in range to capture with the copper wire beneath the machine covered in beads to avoid getting the balls stuck underneath before being able to control them enough to score.
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