An Introduction to Axel: The V5RC High Stakes Hero Bot

Mobile Goals

Axel earns points by scoring Rings on Stakes throughout the game Field. Axel can pick up and lift Rings using its robotic arm, and Axel can push the Rings onto Stakes using its Pusher component. Mobile Goals are placed at various locations around the Field, and each Mobile Goal can fit 6 Rings.

Using its outward-facing C channel, Axel can push Mobile goals to different locations on the Field to score additional points or deduct points from a component.

On the top of every Stake there is a rubber cap; this cap retains the rings on the Stakes, which is especially important for the Mobile Goals as they move around the Field.

Wall Stakes

Axel can use its robotic arm to pick up and place rings on the four Wall Stakes around the perimeter of the Field. There are two Alliance-specific Stakes and two Neutral Stakes.Alliance Wall Stakes can hold 2 Rings each, while Neutral Wall Stakes can hold 6 Rings each. Rings can be scored on any Neutral Stake at any time.

Ladder

With significant modifications, Axel can use its robotic arm to climb the Ladder to score a Ring on the High Stake at the top of the Ladder. These High Stakes can fit only one Ring each.

Axel can earn additional points by using its robotic arm to climb the Ladder at the end of the game. There are no alliance-specific climbing locations on the Ladder, allowing alliances to climb from any side of the Ladder to score points.

Positive Modifiers

At any point in the match, Axel can use its C-channel to push Mobile Goals into the 4 corners of the Field, called Modifiers.

Two of the Modifiers are positive (+). When Axel pushes a Mobile Goal into a Positive Modifier, all Rings on that goal will double in point value.

Negative Modifiers

The other two Modifiers are negative (-). When Axel pushes a Mobile Goal into a Negative Modifier, all Rings on that goal will be changed to negative point values.

Descoring

Axel can descore Rings from an opponent by removing Rings from the Stakes. Caps at the top of the Stakes make descoring Rings slightly more challenging than scoring them.

2-Motor Direct Drive Drivetrain

Axel has a four wheel, two motor, drivetrain, allowing Axel to easily maneuver around the High Stakes Field.

The drivetrain operates as a two-wheel direct drive drivetrain, as the shaft stretches directly from the motor to the wheels without using gears or a chain and sprocket system.

The two motors power the front wheels, making this a front-wheel drive robot.

For more information on drivetrains, view this article from the VEX Library.

Omni-Directional Wheels 
 

Two of the drivetrain’s wheels are Omni Directional Wheels. These wheels have rollers around the circumference of the wheel, which allows the wheel to roll both forwards and backwards, as well as left and right.

Omni Directional Wheels enable the robot to turn easily to navigate the High Stakes Field. The Omni-Directional Wheels also allow more advanced drivetrain designs that can maneuver in complex ways over obstacles.

Rubber Traction Wheels
 

The other two wheels on the drivetrain are rubber traction wheels. These wheels have rubber traction that allow them to grip the surface of the Tiles to reduce any drift that could be caused by the Omni-Directional Wheels during turns.

The rubber traction on the wheels keeps the orientation of the robot straight and stable, and the greater the traction of a wheel, the harder the robot can push or pull, and the easier it is for the robot to travel over obstacles. These wheels create smoother movement and improved grip on the Tiles.

Outward-Facing C Channel

There is no frame opening on Axel, but the front of the robot contains an outward-facing C Channel. This channel is placed on the robot at a critical height to help interact with and push the Mobile Goals around the Field.

The C channel adds rigidity and strength to the robot's frame, enabling it to handle the force of pushing the Mobile Goals as well as keep the Goals aligned correctly while being transported. This design also allows for different parts to be easily attached or removed from the robot as needed during the design process.

Robotic Arm

The third motor on Axel controls the arm. This arm helps Axel to grab rings, lift rings onto Stakes, and then climb up the Ladder at the end of the match. The arm is a single gear reduction, one axis arm that can move approximately 90 degrees. Single gear reduction means that the gear system only uses one set of gears to achieve speed reduction; by reducing the speed, the torque of the arm is increased, empowering the arm to lift heavy objects.

Using its axis, the arm can move up and down and its simplicity will allow it to achieve high precision of movement. To climb the Ladder, you can simply lift the arm, drive onto the first rung, and then lower the arm, which will lift the robot off the ground.

Pusher

The fourth motor on Axel controls the Pusher, the mechanism that pushes the Rings off the end of the arm. The Pusher consists of passive intake flaps at the end of the arm that hold the Rings as the arm rotates. To push the Rings off the Arm, the fourth motor powers the intake flaps, which push the Rings off the arm to score them onto the Stakes.

You could change the geometry of Axel's robotic arm to pick up Rings more easily. You could also enable mobile goal manipulation to enable Axel to transport Mobile Goals across the Field using complex maneuvers.

An effective way to modify Axel could be through adding sensors. Sensors can be used to enable Axel to perform autonomously based on specific detected objects or actions.

<R10> of the V5RC High Stakes Game Manual states the following:

“To participate in an official VEX V5 Robotics Competition event, a Team must first register on robotevents.com and receive a V5RC Team number.

This Team number must be displayed on the Robot using license plates.
Teams may choose to use the official V5RC License Plate Kit, or may create their own.

License plates must be placed on a minimum of two (2) horizontally opposing sides of the Robot (i.e., the top of a Robot is not considered a “side”), and must remain visible and attached for the entirety of the Match.

The image to the left shows one possible mounting location. The mounting location you choose should abide by <R10> of the Game Manual.

Although Axel is designed to be built without needing to cut pieces, in order to participate in the V5RC competitively, cutting metal to create custom pieces is certainly recommended.

As a starting place, look at the 12 inch Shaft used on the arm. It may be a good idea to trim this shaft, as shown in the image to the left, for the purpose of streamlining your build.

What other pieces do you think should be cut for the purpose of improving your build? Remember, the use of cutting pieces allows for immense customization with your robot, but ensure you are doing this safely with supervision. For more information, see Precautions and Safety Guidelines When Working with V5 Robots.