Kobe-Wan (2020)

Kobe-Wan, named after a combination of the basketball player and Jedi Knight, is Team 484’s 2020 robot and the first robot to feature a part made using a CNC water-jet. The part in question being a pair of flywheels used on the shooter to increase the accuracy of shots. Like previous years, Kobe-Wan utilized a westcoast drive system and a cascading lift. The lift allowed Kobe-Wan to climb onto a pole at the end of the match to gain extra points. Kobe-Wan is also the first robot to have a ball intake arm actuated using a brushless DC motor instead of a pneumatic cylinder. The intake would suck balls into the robot where they could then be indexed in the central tower before being shot. LED strips lining the walls of the central tower were used to indicated the alignment of the robot with the target and how close the shooter was to the required speed to make the goal. The LEDs also provided feedback on the state of various aspects of the robot.




INFINITE RECHARGE – The Challenge

In INFINITE RECHARGESM, two alliances work to protect FIRST City from approaching asteroids caused by a distant space skirmish. Each Alliance, along with their trusty droids, race to collect and score Power Cells in order to energize their Shield Generator for maximum protection. To activate stages of the Shield Generator, droids manipulate their Control Panels after scoring a specific number of Power Cells. Near the end of the match, droids race to their Rendezvous Point to get their Shield Generator operational in order to protect the city!

During the 15 second Autonomous Period, droids follow pre-programmed instructions. Alliances score points by:

  1. Scoring Power Cells in the Power Port
  2. Moving from the Initiation Line

In the final 2 minutes and 15 seconds of the match, drivers take control of the droids. Alliances scores points by:

  1. Continue to score Power Cells in the Power Port
  2. Completing Rotation Control
  3. Completing Position Control
  4. Hanging from the Generator Switch
  5. Getting the Generator Switch to the level position

The Alliance with the highest score at the end of the Match wins. The full rules manual for this game can be found here.