After completing our cube collector we started working on a mechanism for picking up and transporting the solar panels. We decided to use the standard claw included in the REV ROBOTICS kit. The first problem we encountered was the grip of the claw was not enough to pick up the solar panels. To circumvent this issue we tried multiple solutions. The first solution we tried was using surgical tubing in an attempt to create more friction between the solar panel the claw. The problem with this solution was that it wasn’t consistent enough. The next idea we had was to use small wheels attached zip ties to the edges of the claw, this created enough friction in order to properly handle the solar panel.
Then all that was left to do was to test our robot performance. After rigorous practise we noticed a problem with our cube collector. It couldn’t collect cubes that were at a 45 degree angle. To fix this we exchanged the chain for a mechanism using poly-cord and pulleys, this allowed us to not only grab cubes not only more efficiently but also faster.
