Name: Occam V: The B.E.A.S.T
Status: Partially Operational
Features:

• Four high traction pneumatic wheels geared to ~5ft/s
• Two stage elevator
• Four bar rotating arm
• Can load from auto-loader, human player, and floor
• 13-14ft maximum height

Description: In 2005 teams could score points by placing tetrahedrons (tetras) made out of PVC pipe onto several goals. Bonus points were awarded for being in your starting zone at the end of a match. We deicded to design our robot with a very tall arm for scoring tetras and a powerful drive system to push away other teams trying to do the same. It was a sound strategy, but we had problems executing it. We made the sliders for the telescoping portion of the arm out of HDPE, a plastic that had the properties we wanted: low friction, tough, easy to machine, and cheap; unfortunately, we were unaware of another property HDPE possess--in humid air it expands. Since the HDPE was cut in early January, by compeition it had swelled somewhat, increasing friction. The problem was exacerbated by our accidental use of a lighter test tetra to calculate gear ratios for our arm, which resulted in a less-than-ideal amount of torque. On the other hand, besides some easy to fix turning problems, the drive system worked perfectly, and successfully pushed many teams away from the goals.