Max Khatsenko   |   Engineer

For my UCLA senior design project (2015: MAE 162D & E),

I helped design and build a robot that could autonomously navigate up a ramp and deliver the golf ball for a hole-in-one, every time.

 

I was responsible for the baseplate design and for the integration of the other subsystems. I helped source the metal stock and electronic equipment. In addition, I hand-machined some of the most complex components such as the gun barrel and helped assemble the final product. I also created the high-level electronic design to make sure all equipment would interface correctly. Finally, I helped create the state diagram so the robot could achieve its goal in the least amount of time.

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The robot used front-mounted ultrasonic and bumper sensors to navigate around the starting area and find the ramp. Then it followed the ramp wall with its infrared sensor. It found where the end of the ramp was and the bumpers aligned the robot before firing. The gun was spring-loaded and I machined the PCB barrel. Very difficult to fixture a cylindrical part on the mill!

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The entire model was designed in SolidWorks. Manufacturing included the mill, lathe, drill press, waterjet, 3D printers...

 

The robot featured the following electrical components:

• myRio microcontroller and custom PCB

• 12V battery & electrical connections

• Sabretooth dual motor driver

• Motors

  • 2x Pololu 37D 70:1 geared motors with encoders

  • 1x Pololu standard servo (for launcher)

• Sensors

  • 1x side-mounted infrared sensors

  • 1x front-mounted ultrasonic sensor

  • 2x front-mounted bumper sensors

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BIG thank you to the team: Omar Al-Naggar, Thomas Heflinger, Lauren Nguyen, Biao Song, Robert Thayer, Profs. Shaefer & Kang

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