The Class: ME218B
This site provides an overview of Botsley, an autonomous ping-pong ball collector built for ME218B, Smart Product Design Applications, in the Winter Quarter of the 2011-2012 school year at Stanford University.
ME218B is the second class in a yearlong course sequence in Smart Product Design, also known as Mechatronics, at Stanford. The Mechatronics classes are taught by Professor Ed Carryer and utilize the facilities of the Smart Product Development Lab, or SPDL. Each quarter culminates in a team design project in which students design the mechanical, electronic and software systems for a device. In ME218A, students build interactive devices, usually creative arcade games. In ME218B students build autonomous robots, and in ME218C, students build creatively-designed radio-controlled vehicles and their controllers.
ME218B is the second class in a yearlong course sequence in Smart Product Design, also known as Mechatronics, at Stanford. The Mechatronics classes are taught by Professor Ed Carryer and utilize the facilities of the Smart Product Development Lab, or SPDL. Each quarter culminates in a team design project in which students design the mechanical, electronic and software systems for a device. In ME218A, students build interactive devices, usually creative arcade games. In ME218B students build autonomous robots, and in ME218C, students build creatively-designed radio-controlled vehicles and their controllers.
The Game: HIPPOS
Diagram of Field from Project Description
This year each ME218B team was tasked to compete in Hi-Tech Ping-Pong Orbital Sumo or HIPPOS, for short. The game is a head-to-head match up between robots as they attempt to score points by gathering ping-pong balls off of the floor of the playing field and depositing them into the scoring bins. At the beginning of each game, the robots are placed on the field by a member of the team. The centroid of the normal 2-D projection of each robot onto the plane of the field must lie within the starting box at the start of the game. An equal number (1-120) of balls will be placed on each side of the wall before the beginning of a round. The game will begin when a game status query to the Field Status Reporter (FSR) indicates a non-zero number of balls in play. Each robot must first identify which side of the wall it is on (red or blue) before leaving the starting position.
Ping-pong balls in Scoring Bins at the end of the round on the Red side of the wall score +2 points for the Red team, ping-pong balls in Scoring Bins on the Blue side of the wall score +2 points for the Blue team. Ping-pong balls on the floor at the end of round on the Red side of the wall score -1 points for the Red team, ping-pong balls on the floor on the Blue side of the wall score -1 points for the Blue team. At the end of the round, ping-pong balls either in a robot or with any portion of the ball under the rotatable wall do not count against either team. At the end of the round, if the rotatable wall lies within the light grey region of Fig. 1 (defined by angle positions of A-B, C-D, E-F, G-H) the scoring bins at the ends of the wall are taken out of play and do not count for either side.
The round ends 2 minutes after the Field Status Reporter first reported the Running state. At that time, ‘bots must stop all movement. In case of a tie at the end of a round, the robot with highest bin score wins. If the score does not change throughout a round, then both robots are removed from the competition.
Ping-pong balls in Scoring Bins at the end of the round on the Red side of the wall score +2 points for the Red team, ping-pong balls in Scoring Bins on the Blue side of the wall score +2 points for the Blue team. Ping-pong balls on the floor at the end of round on the Red side of the wall score -1 points for the Red team, ping-pong balls on the floor on the Blue side of the wall score -1 points for the Blue team. At the end of the round, ping-pong balls either in a robot or with any portion of the ball under the rotatable wall do not count against either team. At the end of the round, if the rotatable wall lies within the light grey region of Fig. 1 (defined by angle positions of A-B, C-D, E-F, G-H) the scoring bins at the ends of the wall are taken out of play and do not count for either side.
The round ends 2 minutes after the Field Status Reporter first reported the Running state. At that time, ‘bots must stop all movement. In case of a tie at the end of a round, the robot with highest bin score wins. If the score does not change throughout a round, then both robots are removed from the competition.
Our Team: CHARLIE'S ANGELS
The Lazy Larry team from ME218A, which consisted of Kyla, Abby and Kathy, picked up free agent Jeff, fresh off development of A Case of the Mondays, this winter. With the roster of 3 ladies and 1 man, our team name was obvious. Botsley was born a few weeks later.
Botsley: A Small Robot with a lot of Character
Botsley’s body is a masonite and acrylic chassis on rubbery wheels that surrounds a moving ping-pong ball hopper. His brains are 12 soldered circuit boards wired and molexed together with more than 15 feet of wire. He runs code on a FreeScale MC9S12E128 microprocessor. Botsley wears his heart on his sleeve: most of his electronics are conveniently mounted on the outside of the chassis to make room for his hopper system.
Botsley grew up in the rolling hills of the SPDL and Room 36. Every once in a while he likes to head home to see his family and recharge his batteries (literally). He loves going to the disco, playing bumper cars, training for HIPPOS tournaments, watching old TV shows, and dressing up like an old TV too.
Botsley grew up in the rolling hills of the SPDL and Room 36. Every once in a while he likes to head home to see his family and recharge his batteries (literally). He loves going to the disco, playing bumper cars, training for HIPPOS tournaments, watching old TV shows, and dressing up like an old TV too.
Kyla Barr: Martial Arts Specialist
Kyla arrived at Stanford from the cold-throws of Wisconsin, where she studied Biomechanical Engineering and now is a coterm in Mechanical Engineering.
When she's not immersed in designing and making machines bend to her will, she can be found jumping into a dance rehearsal or playing on one of Stanford's many tennis courts. The occasional Tae-kwon-do spar never hurts either
When she's not immersed in designing and making machines bend to her will, she can be found jumping into a dance rehearsal or playing on one of Stanford's many tennis courts. The occasional Tae-kwon-do spar never hurts either
Abby Soong: Demolitions... okay, Electronics Expert
Abby is the team's sole native Californian, hailing from Walnut Creek (just a hop and a skip from the Stanford campus). She did her undergraduate career in Mechancal Engineering at Stanford and liked it so much she decided to stay for a coterm.
Now she spends her time working on robots, TAing an undergraduate course, and working in her secret electronics lair.
Now she spends her time working on robots, TAing an undergraduate course, and working in her secret electronics lair.
Kathy Spriggs: Master of Disguise
Kathy is a Mechanical Engineering coterm student with an undergraduate degree in Product Design. She is passionate about great design and loves making things.
When she's not building robots or welding furniture, she likes to bike in the hills behind Stanford and ride horses.
And yes, she has a twin.
When she's not building robots or welding furniture, she likes to bike in the hills behind Stanford and ride horses.
And yes, she has a twin.
Jeff Kessler: The Man who Knew Too Much
Jeff grew up on Long Island, NY, the land of Billy Joel, Jones Beach, and fantastic pizza and bagels, then moved to North Carolina to study Mechanical Engineering at Duke. He most recently lived in Los Angeles after escaping from Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Jeff loves using his skills to tell stories, create experiences, and educate, and he's proud to be a never-go-back Californian. When he's not building robots for ME218, he's building other robots, teaching kids about robots, making movies of robots, or going on hikes or bike rides (without robots). Jeff is thrilled to be learning how to make stuff move - and move people - at Stanford
Jeff loves using his skills to tell stories, create experiences, and educate, and he's proud to be a never-go-back Californian. When he's not building robots for ME218, he's building other robots, teaching kids about robots, making movies of robots, or going on hikes or bike rides (without robots). Jeff is thrilled to be learning how to make stuff move - and move people - at Stanford