Mechanical Lead
VEX U started for me in 2020-2021. Compared with V5RC, the university format opened up more custom fabrication, deeper controls work, and a broader systems view across two-robot match strategy. I led the mechanical design of the robot and helped write the chassis control logic and subsystem state machines.
Deployment and closed-loop path following
The robot had to begin each run inside the 15" x 15" x 15" VEX U starting volume, so the intake, roller, and hood mechanisms were packaged to deploy after the match began. For autonomous movement, the robot used odometry-based localization that fused gyroscope heading with motor encoder data to estimate its field position continuously. That position estimate fed a cascaded PID controller: outer loops corrected linear displacement and inner loops corrected heading. The controller was integrated with a pure-pursuit path follower, using precomputed waypoints to generate smooth trajectories for the robot to follow during the skills routine.
Dealing with COVID
The first VEX U season required a different kind of thinking. This season completely focused on the skills challenge which was effectively trying to maximize the number of points scored independently under timed pressure. There were both an operator controlled and autonomous controlled portion of the competition. Since there was no defense or coordination with other robots required, optimization of mechanical and software was more critical than match strategy.
Change Up image archive
