Trendy engineering is more and more cross-disciplinary, so at the moment’s college students usually take programs that may have gave the impression to be “outdoors their area” a few many years in the past. Pelochus and their classmates on the College of Granada are learning laptop engineering, however had a category that challenged them to construct battlebots so as to get some hands-on studying with microcontrollers and embedded methods. To dominate the competitors, they used an Arduino to create the Rockobot.

This can be a play on a meme that was widespread within the 3D printing neighborhood lately. For laughs, individuals would slap a bust of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — wrestler and actor extraordinaire — onto absolutely anything that may very well be 3D-printed. Pelochus and their workforce figured that such adornment would improve their possibilities of success in a battle, and we will scent what they’re cooking.

Beneath the studly noggin, the Rockobot is a fairly commonplace tank-style battlebot. It has bent sheet metallic plows in the back and front, that are the first offense and protection. An Arduino Nano board controls the motors that drive the tank treads by a customized PCB populated with L289N H-bridge drivers. Energy comes from a 1550mAh 14.8V battery by a step-down converter. Ultrasonic sensors on the back and front, together with infrared sensors on the perimeters, assist the Rockobot navigate autonomously whereas avoiding collisions.

The spirit of Mr. Johnson will need to have been inhabiting the Rockobot, as a result of it blew by the competitors and took the highest place within the class event.