bIrobot has been making astronomical progress on this year’s robot, that we’ve named Caroline. We’ve been building parts and putting together the robot for quite some time now, and everyday we’re getting closer and closer to being done! Caroline features many new and different components than last year’s robot (Karen), and hopefully Caroline will be able to outdo Karen’s performance last year.

This year our robot features brand, spanking new mecanum wheels which will allow Caroline to be able to drive directly in any direction. Last year, Karen had wheels which were much tougher, resilient, and able to drive over many obstacles, however, to face the direction the driver wanted it to go. With the mecanum wheels the robot will have many directional possibilities and be able to navigate everywhere with much ease. Caroline also features a custom made shooter designed to shoot the wiffle balls that are being used in this year’s competition. The shooter features two wheels to propel the ball at incredible speed and a barrel for the most accurate of shots. Caroline is also equipped with a “Ball Sweeper,” which is made to collect balls to shoot. It is armed with 3 sets of brushes in a vertical manner that is designed to sweep up balls and bring it into the hopper of the robot.
Progress on Caroline is coming along smoothly and we expect we’ll be able to attach the hopper onto the robot within a few days. With the FRC deadline for the stop build just around the corner, hopefully Caroline will soon be in the fully finished form.