King of the Mountain

One of the first challenges in ES451 Mobile Robot Design is to build a robot that can climb a steep slope. While it might just seem like we're playing with legos, teams must consider the same issues they might consider in any vehicle design: tire material, gearing, location of center of gravity and frame geometry.


To put in perspective just how steep the hills were, driving up a 45 degree incline only gets you a B! Here is an unsuccessful effort:



But with a little more work, the winning teams made it up a 55 degree incline!



Note: The robot's are not able to sense if they are sitting straight on the hill, so "nudges" are allowed, as long as they don't help you up the hill. One of the groups is working on a slef steering version as part of their midterm project.