Whizbee
A short, efficient disk-flinging robot with a central cylinder storage system.
The Game
In Ultimate Ascent, the goal was to fling disks into a low, medium, or high goal. At the end of the round, robots would attempt to climb up a nine-foot-tall, three-tier pyramid and hang for points. Human players could feed disks through slots in the field, where robots could catch and load them.
The Robot
Whizbee was a short and efficient robot that functioned using wheels designed for control. Whizbee had a tray that served to assist in loading disks from human players into a central cylinder, where up to four disks could be stored. At the bottom of the cylinder, disks were fired by several sets of spinning wheels, with a mouthpiece that assisted in aiming.
The team won the Chairman’s Award at the Boilermaker Regional along with the Innovation in Controls Award, and Mariah Smith was named a Dean’s List Finalist. The team was also Regional Finalists. At the Crossroads Regional, the team received the Entrepreneurship Award. At the FIRST World Championship, the team went 5-3 in qualification and was selected for the #4 alliance on the Newton Field, making it to the Division Semifinals.