Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
5 ANT-WEIGHT BATTLEBOT
 wenhao Zhang
XiangYi Kong
Yuxin Zhang
 Zhuoer Zhang design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video
# ANT-WEIGHT BATTLEBOT

Team Members:
- Xiangyi Kong (xkong13)
- Yuxin Zhang (yuxinz11)
- Wenhao Zhang (wenhaoz5)

# Problem

Antweight (≤2 lb) combat robots must operate under strict weight, power, and control constraints while enduring repeated impacts, motor stalls, and wireless failures. It’s extremely important for the stable and fast interconnection among power delivery, wireless control, and integration between mechanical and electronic subsystems.

# Solution

We propose a 2-lb antweight battlebot with a four-wheel-drive chassis and an active front roller-and-fork weapon. All electronics are integrated on a custom PCB centered on an ESP32 microcontroller. The system is divided into four subsystems—Power, Drive, Weapon, and Control—allowing modular development and testing. Wireless PC-based control is implemented via WiFi or Bluetooth, with firmware failsafes ensuring automatic shutdown on RF link loss.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - power

Supplies stable power to motors and electronics while preventing brownouts, overcurrent damage, and unsafe operation.

Components:
- 3S LIPO Battery (11.1v battery)
- LM2596S-3.3( regulator to output 3.3v)

## Subsystem 2 - Drive

Provides reliable locomotion, turning, and pushing power during combat.

Components:
- Four DC gear motors
- L298N (motor driver)
- Four wheels mounted to a 3D-printed chassis

## Subsystem3 - Weapon

Implements the robot’s primary mechanism for engaging and controlling opponents.

Components:
- Front roller driven by a DC motor
- PWM-based motor control circuitry
- Other 3D-printed weapon structure (forks, and wedge guides)

## Subsystem4 - Control

Handles wireless communication, motion control, weapon control, and safety logic.

Components:
- ESP32 microcontroller on custom PCB
- Integrated Bluetooth radio
- Current sensor for safety monitoring
- PC-based control interface

# Criterion For Success

- Weight Compliance: Total robot mass is less than 2.0 lb.


- Wireless Control: Robot is reliably controlled from a PC via Bluetooth with Failsafe Operation.


- Mobility: Robot operates continuously for 3 minutes without power resets.


- Weapon Reliability: Weapon can be repeatedly actuated without electrical or mechanical failure.

Smart Frisbee

Ryan Moser, Blake Yerkes, James Younce

Smart Frisbee

Featured Project

The idea of this project would be to improve upon the 395 project ‘Smart Frisbee’ done by a group that included James Younce. The improvements would be to create a wristband with low power / short range RF capabilities that would be able to transmit a user ID to the frisbee, allowing the frisbee to know what player is holding it. Furthermore, the PCB from the 395 course would be used as a point of reference, but significantly redesigned in order to introduce the transceiver, a high accuracy GPS module, and any other parts that could be modified to decrease power consumption. The frisbee’s current sensors are a GPS module, and an MPU 6050, which houses an accelerometer and gyroscope.

The software of the system on the frisbee would be redesigned and optimized to record various statistics as well as improve gameplay tracking features for teams and individual players. These statistics could be player specific events such as the number of throws, number of catches, longest throw, fastest throw, most goals, etc.

The new hardware would improve the frisbee’s ability to properly moderate gameplay and improve “housekeeping”, such as ensuring that an interception by the other team in the end zone would not be counted as a score. Further improvements would be seen on the software side, as the frisbee in it’s current iteration will score as long as the frisbee was thrown over the endzone, and the only way to eliminate false goals is to press a button within a 10 second window after the goal.