Robots

We have created some great robots over the years. For videos of our robots in action, please visit our website's Media page. For match videos and scores, please visit our page on The Blue Alliance.

2023 Robot - Twister

Twister is 5813's robot for the 2023 Charged Up season. This season, we competed at the Rhode Island and North Shore Districts as well as in the Meir Division at the New England District Championship.

Summary:

Our 2023 robot, Twister, was able to intake Cubes and Cones from the floor as well as Cones from the Substations, score Cubes and Cones into any Nodes, and balance on the Charge Station at the end of the match.

Weight: 123 pounds

Game Animation

Automated Placement Video

Recap Video

Scoring:

Twister features a multi-purpose intake for both Cones and Cubes, a 2-stage tilted elevator, a "shuttle" with horizontal extension, and a turret to rotate all of the scoring mechanisms.

The intake uses a combination of three rollers to pick up either Cones or Cubes. Using the two 2-inch compliant wheel rollers, it can pick up tipped or upright Cones. If the intake is rotated to a different angle, one of the compliant wheel rollers and the stealth wheel roller work together to pick up Cubes. The intake can pick up Cones (tipped and upright) and Cubes from the ground, Cones from the Single Substation, and tipped Cones from the Double Substation. All of the rollers are powered by one 775Pro motor.

The 2-stage continuously-rigged elevator is tilted at an angle of 75 degrees from horizontal to allow for scoring in the Hybrid Nodes or the middle row of Nodes without adjusting drivebase position. The elevator is rigged using a single HTD belt that is tensioned using a ratcheting wrench and is powered by a Falcon 500 motor. An energy chain routes the wiring up to the top of the elevator in a controlled manner.

A "shuttle" with one stage of horizontal extension rides up and down in the elevator. When the shuttle extends, it allows Twister to reach the high row of Nodes. The shuttle's horizontal extension is powered by a 775Pro motor. The intake is mounted to a wrist at the end of the shuttle. The wrist is powered by a 775Pro motor and allows the intake to be positioned at any angle for optimal pickup and placement of game pieces.

The entire elevator system is all mounted on-top of a turret. The turret features a unique bearing stack-up utilizing two tapered roller bearings. The turret allows pickup and placement off of any side of the robot. Using a combination of the turret, elevator, and shuttle, Twister can place gamepieces even if the drivebase is not in the right position. The turret is powered by a 775Pro motor, and it's position is controlled using a REV encoder and a Limelight. The gears and sprockets in the turret gearbox are shimmed to reduce backlash.

Drivebase:

Twister features a 6-wheel West Coast Drive with 5-inch Colson Wheels powered by 4 Falcon 500 motors with WCP gearboxes. Electronics are mounted upside down on a "brain pan" and are protected by a steel belly pan. The drivebase is 26 x 28 inches and is small enough to allow three robots to engage on the Charge Station.

Autonomous:

Twister has several autonomous modes. One autonomous scores a Cone on a high Node and then balances on the Charge Station. Another Charge Station auto scores a Cone high, leave the Community, and then engage on the Charge Station. Two other autonomous modes start on either side of the Charge Station, place a Cone high, leave the Community, grab a Cube from the center of the field, and score the Cube high.

Achievements:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (29-16-2). Overall: (33-21-2)

NE District - Rhode Island Event:

NE District - North Shore Event:

New England District Championship - Meir Division:

Battlecry 23:

2022 Robot - Flagnado

Flagnado is 5813's robot of the 2022 Rapid React season. This season, we won the Pine Tree District and the North Shore District and competed at the FIRST Championship in Houston, Texas.

Summary:

Our 2022 robot, Flagnado, was able to intake Cargo from the floor, score Cargo into the Upper Hub from a variety of locations around the field, and climb to the Traversal Bar at the end of the match.

Weight: 92 pounds

Game Animation

Traversal Climb Video

Recap Video

Scoring:

Flagnado features a Cargo intake, a conveyor, a shooter with adjustable hood, and a climbing mechanism consisting of two telescoping-arm climbers and two passive "dino" hooks.

The Cargo intake deploys using two pneumatic cylinders and uses mecanum wheels to center the Cargo and pull them into the robot over the frame. The intake wheels are powered by a 775Pro. Working in combination with the conveyor and a color sensor, the intake is able to eject Cargo belonging to the opposite alliance.

The conveyor consists of several rollers and belts that bring Cargo from the intake to the shooter. The conveyor can hold two Cargo and can feed them into the shooter one-at-a-time. The conveyor system is powered by three 775Pro motors and features a REV color sensor to detect the color of the Cargo.

The shooter is a flywheel shooter with two rollers and a pneumatically-adjustable hood with two positions. When the hood is down, the robot can score when pushed up against the Fenders. When the hood is up, the robot can score from a wide range of locations around the field. Using the Limelight camera, the speeds of the two shooter rollers is adjusted depending on the distance from the goal. The lower 4-inch stealth-wheel roller is powered by a Falcon 500 motor while the upper 1-inch stealth wheel roller is powered by a 775Pro motor.

The climber consists of two passive "dino" hooks and two articulating telescoping arms. The climber can climb onto any of the four climbing rungs and can autonomously climb from the ground to the Traversal Rung in 8.5 seconds. The telescoping arms are powered by a Falcon 500 motor and are actuated by 3 pneumatic cylinders.

Drivebase:

Flagnado features the next iteration on our 6-wheel West Coast Drive with 4-inch Colson Wheels. Each side of the drivebase is powered by two Falcon 500 motors in a WCP flipped gearbox. The electronics board is mounted to a "brain pan" and is protected by a steel belly pan which also adds ballast. The drivebase is 23 x 27 inches and is small enough to enable a triple traversal climb.

Autonomous:

Flagnado has award-winning autonomous programs. A 2-ball autonomous drives back, picks up a second Cargo, and scores two Cargo into the Upper Hub. A 3-ball auto starts on the Terminal side of the field, drives and picks up one more Cargo, shoots two Cargo high, and then drives, picks up, and shoots one more Cargo. Our first 4-ball autonomous starts in the Tarmac closest to the Terminal, drives back, picks up one more Cargo, shoots two Cargo high, and then drives to the Terminal, picks up two Cargo, and shoots them high. Our second 4-ball auto starts in the Tarmac closest to the Hangar, drives back, picks up one more Cargo, shoots two Cargo high, and then drives through the Hangar to the Terminal where it picks up two more Cargo and shoots them high. Our final autonomous is a 5-ball auto that starts the same as our 3-ball auto but extends it by driving to the Terminal to pick up and score two more Cargo.

Achievements:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (40-7-0). Overall: (90-28-1)

Week 0:

NE District - Pine Tree Event:

NE District - North Shore Event:

FIRST Championship - Roebling Division:

Battlecry 22:

Summer Heat:

Mayhem in Merrimack:

NH Governor's Cup:

Battle of the Bay:

2021 At-Home Robot - Microburst:

Microburst is 5813's robot for the 2021 Infinite Recharge at Home season. This season, we competed in the Scandium Group in the Infinite Recharge at Home challenges and placed third overall.

Summary:

Our 2021 robot, Microburst, is a small, cost-effective, and lightweight robot specifically designed to compete in the Infinite Recharge at Home challenges. Microburst is able to intake Power Cells, store them, and score them in both the Outer and Inner Ports from a range of distances on the field.

Weight: 65 pounds

Reveal Video

Scoring:

Microburst features a Power Cell intake, a brushed rotary hopper, and a shooter with deployable hood.

The full-width intake starts folded up into the back of the hopper at the start of the challenge, held in position by a polycarbonate hook. When the intake spins, the hook passively retracts, allowing the intake to fold down into position. The intake is powered by a 775Pro motor and has three horizontal rollers that grab the Power Cells and move them into the hopper. Once the intake deploys, it stays out for the rest of the challenge.

The hopper can hold up to 5 Power Cells and uses a brushed system to move the power cells into the feeder tower. The feeder tower uses two wheels to propel the Power Cells from the hopper into the shooter. The hopper is run by a single 775Pro motor, and the feeder tower is run by a single 775Pro motor.

The backspin shooter is powered by three 775Pro motors and uses two 6-inch Colson wheels on a single shaft to launch the power cells into the Power Ports. A Limelight 2+ is used to track the goal. The hood has two positions. One position is held in place using a hook that is connected to the hook that holds up the intake at the start of the challenge. When the intake rollers spin, the hooks deploy both the intake and the hood. When the hood is held back by the hook, Microburst can score into the Power Port from the Green Zone of the Interstellar Accuracy challenge. When the hood is deployed, Microburst can score power cells from anywhere else on the field. The hood can start in either position, but once the hood is deployed, it cannot be retracted.

Drivebase:

Microbust features a 6-wheel West Coast Drive with 4-inch Colson Wheels. The drivebase is powered by four Falcon 500 motors in a WCP gearbox, features a "brain pan" electronics board, and is the smallest drivebase we've ever done, measuring in at just 22 x 24.5 inches. The drivebase is small enough to be able to fit between the markers in the at-home challenges with plenty of room to spare, which was very useful in both the Autonav and Hyperdrive challenges.

Autonomous:

In the at-home challenges, Microburst used autonomous modes in three of the five challenges.

For the Galactic Search challenge, Microburst was able to detect the locations of Power Cells on the field using a Limelight 2+ and determine which path to follow to collect the three Power Cells.

In the Autonav challenge, there were autonomous modes for the Barrel Racing Path, the Slalom Path, and the Bounce Path that quickly moved the robot through the intricate paths without hitting the markers.

In order to make the Power Port challenge more repeatable and as fast as possible, an autonomous path was created to move Microburst from the Re-Introduction Zone to the Scoring Zone, shoot three Power Cells into the Power Port, and drive back into the Re-Introduction Zone. Once the human players reloaded Microburst's hopper, the driver could press a button to rerun the same path for maximum repeatability between cycles.

Achievements:

Infinite Recharge at Home Challenge - Scandium Group:

Thunder Over New Hampshire:

2020 / 2021 Robot - Tornado:

Tornado is 5813's robot for the 2020 and 2021 Infinite Recharge seasons. Unfortunately, all official events for 2020 were cancelled, so this robot will only be competing at offseason events in 2021. At the Battlecry 21 offseason series, we were semifinalists the first day and winners the second day. In the Fall, we won the River Rage offseason event and the New Hampshire Governor's Cup.

Summary:

Our 2020/2021 robot, Tornado, is able to intake power cells from the floor, shoot power cells into the outer port or inner port from almost anywhere on the field, spin the control panel, and climb on the switch at the end of the match. It can also drive under the trench run.

Weight: 103 pounds (2020)

Game Animation (2020)

2020 Reveal Video

Weight: 110 pounds (2021)

Game Animation (2021)

2021 Battlecry Finals 2

Scoring:

Tornado features a power cell intake, a cyclone hopper and feeder, a shooter with adjustable hood, a control panel mechanism, and two telescoping-arm climbers.

The power cell intake is a pneumatically-actuated non-parallel 4-bar that extends over the bumper to intake power cells from the field into the cyclone hopper. The three rollers are powered by a 775Pro motor.

The cyclone hopper, which can hold up to six power cells, spins around the center feeder column. The power cells do not move relative to each other, so the potential for jamming is decreased. The center feeder column has an omni wheel that sits in the hopper. When the omni wheel is turned on, the combination of the omni wheel and the spinning hopper bring power cells up the center column and into the shooter. If the feeder did experience a jam, an automatic unjam sequence would activate and clear the jam, allowing us to keep scoring.

The shooter featured 6-inch Colson wheels and was powered by two Falcon 500 motors. It also featured a pneumatically actuated hood that allowed the robot to score from the fender, the initiation line, and the front of the Trench.

Our control panel mechanisms attaches to the superstructure holding the shooter in place. It spins the control panel using Banebots compliant wheels and is powered by a Bag motor connected to a Versaplanetary gearbox. A pneumatic cylinder is used to fold the control panel mechanism up into position when it is time to spin the control panel.

The climber is powered by a single 775Pro motor and holds its position using a pneumatic shifting brake. The arms start the match folded down on top of the hopper and deploy using a pneumatic cylinder when it is time to climb.

Drive base:

Tornado uses a six-wheel West Coast Drive with 6-inch Colson wheels. The drivebase uses custom, two-Falcon 500 gearboxes and features a "brain pan" electronics board.

Autonomous:

Tornado has many different autonomous options. An 8-ball auto shoots 3 power cells, picks up 5 additional power cells from the trench run, and scores them. A 6-ball auto shoots 3 power cells, picks up 3 more from the trench run, and scores them. A 5-ball auto starts near the opponent's trench run, picks up 2 power cells from the opponent's trench run, and scores the power cells. Tornado also has a 3-ball auto that shoots three power cells into the power port and drives off of the initiation line; this auto can be configured to drive either forward or backwards.

Achievements:

2020:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (0-0-0). Overall: (0-0-0)

NH Governor's Cup:

2021:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (0-0-0). Overall: (42-9-0)

Battlecry 21 - Saturday:

Battlecry 21 - Sunday:

River Rage:

NH Governor's Cup hosted by Battle of the Bay:

2019 Robot - Anonnado:

Anonnado is 5813's robot for the 2019 Destination: Deep Space competition season. This season, our two District Events were the SE Mass event in Week 2 and the Central Mass event in Week 5. At the SE Mass competition, our safety captain won Safety Star of the Day, and the team made it to the finals. Then, at the Central Mass competition, we made it to the semifinals and won the Autonomous Award. We were excited to qualify for the prestigious New England District Championship for the fourth time in our Team history!

Summary:

Our 2019 robot, Anonnado, is able to collect hatch panels from the feeder station, collect cargo from the ground, place hatch panels and cargo anywhere on the Rocket or Cargo Ship, and climb to HAB level 3 at the end of the match.

Weight: 124.9 pounds

Game Animation

Recap Video

Suction Climbs Video

Scoring:

Anonnado features a multi-purpose intake, a 2-stage continuous elevator, and a suction climber.

The intake has two modes: cargo mode and hatch panel mode. In cargo mode, the intake opens up and rotates down to pick up the cargo. A horizontal roller pulls the cargo into two vertical side-rollers. The intake then rotates up to score on the Rocket and stays rotated down to score in the Cargo Ship. The two vertical side-rollers are on a pivot. When the arms pivot together, the rollers collect hatch panels from the feeder station. The wheels spin in the opposite direction to place the hatch panels.

The elevator is a 2-stage continuous elevator that can travel up to place cargo and hatch panels up to level 3 of the Rocket. The elevator is powered off of a custom 4-775Pro gearbox that uses a ball shifter to activate a braking mechanism.

At the end of the match, a pneumatic cylinder deploys the suction climber, which is on a separate elevator. After the climber is deployed, the suction pad adheres to the top platform of HAB level 3 using a suction pump. After the pad is adhered sufficiently, the climber arm is pulled down the elevator until Anonnado's bumpers are elevated above HAB level 3. The suction pad does not take up much space on the HAB 3 platform, which allows multiple-robot-climbs.

Drive base:

Anonnado uses a six-wheel West Coast Drive with four six-inch Colson wheels towards the front of the robot and two six-inch VEX Pro Omni wheels on the back of the robot. The drivebase uses 4 NEO motors with a VEX Pro Ball Shifter gearbox.

Autonomous/Sandstorm:

Anonnado's award winning autonomous starts on HAB level 1, drives to the back of either Rocket, and switches to driver control. This allows the driver to place a hatch panel on the back of the Rocket. In Sandstorm, the robot can also start on HAB level 2 and place a hatch panel on the front of the Cargo Ship.

Achievements:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (22-25-1). Overall: (52-52-3)

Battle of the Bay:

River Rage:

NH Governor's Cup:

Summer Heat:

Battlecry 20:

New England District Championship:

NE District - Central Mass Event:

NE District - SE Mass Event:

Week 0:

2018 Robot - Insomnado:

Insomnado is 5813's robot for the 2018 FIRST Power Up competition season. This season was our most successful season yet! At the official Week 0 event, we captained our alliance to the finals. We were semifinalists at the SE Mass District and won the Innovation in Control Award. At the UNH District, we made it to the finals where we qualified for the New England District Championship. To wrap up our season, we made it to the quarterfinals in the Curie Subdivision at the Detroit Championship.

Summary:

Our 2018 robot, Insomnado, is able to intake cubes in any orientation; place cubes in the exchange, switch, and scale; park on the platform at the end of the match; and climb onto the rung.

Weight: 119.2 pounds

Game Animation

Recap Video

Scoring:

Insomnado features a cube intake, a wrist, a 3-stage cascading elevator, and a climber.

The cube intake can intake cubes in any possible orientation and can either shoot it out using the intake wheels or drop the cube by pneumatically opening the claw.

The wrist rides on the shuttle, which is the final elevator stage, and can rotate to position the intake at different angles. Once the shuttle reaches the top of the elevator, the wrist can flip back and score cubes out the back of the robot.

The elevator is a 3-stage cascading elevator that can reach up to place a cube on top of a stack of two cubes in the upper scale position. Our elevator and climber are run off of a custom 4-775Pro gearbox that uses a pneumatic shifter to switch between powering the elevator and powering the climber.

At the end of the match, our climber arm extends and places the hook on the rung. After the hook is placed, our elevator/climber gearbox reels in the hook and pulls our robot off the ground and into scoring position.

Drive base:

Insomnado uses a six-wheel West Coast Drive with four eight-inch Colson wheels towards the back of the robot and two eight-inch VEX Pro Omni wheels on the front of the robot. The drivebase uses 4 CIM motors.

Autonomous:

Insomnado has several autonomous modes. Our first 2018 auto starts in the center of the alliance wall and places one cube in our alliance-colored switch within three seconds into autonomous. Another autonomous mode starts on the left side of the field and places a cube in the correct scale plate. Additionally, we have a two-cube-center-switch auto, a near-side scale auto starting on the right, as well as a single cube side-switch auto that can start on either side of the field.

Achievements:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (42-17-0). Overall: (93-34-1)

Battle of the Bay:

River Rage:

Summer Heat:

Mayhem in Merrimack:

Battlecry 19:

FIRST Championship - Detroit - Curie Subdivision:

New England District Championship:

NE District - UNH Event:

NE District - SE Mass Event:

Week 0:

2017 Robot - Torquenado:

Torquenado is 5813's robot for the 2017 FIRST Steamworks challenge. This season was a very successful season for us! We were Quarterfinalists at WPI, Semifinalists at Southern NH, Finalists at the New England District Championship, and competitors at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Summary:

Our 2017 robot, Torquenado, is able to retrieve gears for the airship, score fuel in the high efficiency boiler, and climb the rope to board the airship at the end of the match.

Weight: 113 pounds

Game Animation

Recap Video

Scoring:

Torquenado is equipped with a gear mechanism, a fuel intake, a fuel tank, a dual-stream shooter, and a power-takeoff climber.

The gear mechanism, nicknamed the "Gear Goblin" by our team, is located on the front of the robot and uses two sets of horizontal rollers to pick up gears from the ground. After a gear is collected, the Gear Goblin rotates up to place the gears on the airship pegs. A wide field camera is mounted above the Gear Goblin so the drive team can see gears that they would not be able to see otherwise.

The fuel intake is located underneath the Gear Goblin, so that fuel can be collected into the fuel tank when the Gear Goblin is rotated up.

The fuel tank can hold about 50 fuel elements and can be loaded by either a hopper or the fuel intake. Using agitators, belts, and rollers, the fuel tank feeds fuel into the shooter.

The flywheel shooter has two channels, which allow two streams of fuel to be shot at once. The shooter uses four-inch Andymark compliant wheels to launch the fuel.

Behind the shooter is our power-takeoff climber. The climber is driven by all four CIM motors in our drivebase, which allows for a quick climb.

Drive base:

Torquenado uses an eight-wheel West Coast Drive with four four-inch Colson wheels on each side of the drive base. Four CIM motors are used in the West Coast Drive.

Autonomous:

Torqeuado has autonomous modes that can place a gear on any of the three pegs. Additionally, we have autos that place a gear on the side peg and shoot 10 fuel into the boiler.

Achievements:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (33-27-0). Overall: (53-45-0)

Battle of the Bay:

Beantown Blitz:

Battlecry 18:

FIRST Championship - St. Louis - Carson Subdivision

New England District Championship:

NE District - Southern NH Event:

NE District - WPI Event:

2016 Robot - Goatnado:

Goatnado is 5813's robot for the 2016 FIRST Stronghold challenge. This season was a big success for 5813. We were Semifinalists at the WPI and UNH district events and an an alliance captain in the Galileo Division.

Summary:

Our 2016 robot, Goatnado, is able to retrieve boulders, shoot boulders into the high goal, cross defenses, and challenge the tower at the end of the match.

Weight: 83.5 pounds

Game Animation

Reveal Video

Recap Video

Scoring:

Goatnado is equipped with a boulder intake/defense manipulator, feeder, and shooter.

The boulder intake/defense manipulator, nicknamed Swagnado by our team, uses mecanum wheels to center the boulder as it is picked up by the feeder. The Swagnado is also used to push down the cheval de frise defense and lift up the portcullis by spinning the wheels out.

Once the flywheel shooter is spun up to the correct speed, the feeder propels the boulder into the shooter.

The shooter uses four-inch Colson wheels to launch the boulder into the high goal.

Goatnado can drive under the low bar and cross all Class A, B, and D defenses. Additionally, Goatnado can back through the sally port, spin around, and drive back across to weaken/damage that defense.

Drive base:

Goatnado uses a six-wheel West Coast Drive driven by four CIM motors. The drive base uses three eight-inch pneumatic wheels on each side and is able to traverse all defenses, including the low bar, rough terrain, rock wall, moat, ramparts, cheval de frise, sally port, and portcullis.

Autonomous:

In autonomous, Goatnado can cross the low bar, rough terrain, rock wall, cheval de frise, and portcullis defenses. Additionally, we have an auto that crosses the low bar and shoots a boulder into the left high goal.

Achievements:

Win-Loss-Tie record in official play: (32-28-0). Overall: (66-40-0)

Battle of the Bay:

River Rage:

Beantown Blitz:

Battlecry 17:

FIRST Championship - Galileo Subdivision:

New England District Championship:

NE District - UNH Event:

NE District - WPI Event:

2015 Robot - Totenado:

Totenado is 5813's pre-rookie robot for the 2015 Recycle Rush challenge. We used this project as an opportunity to learn how to use Solidworks and VEX Pro components. We had a great time and were Semifinalists at Battle of the Bay.

Summary:

Our 2015 robot, Totenado, is able to grab recycling containers from the step, pick up sideways recycling containers, intake totes, cap five-tote-tall stacks with a recycling container, and make stacks up to six-totes tall with a recycling container.

Weight: 85 pounds

Game Animation

Recap Video

Scoring:

Totenado is equipped with a tote intake, an internal indexing stacking system, a recycling container claw, and two arms that grab a recycling container from the step.

The recycling container claw can rotate to pick up sideways cans. After a recycling container is grabbed, the claw rotates to make the recycling container vertical. The claw rides on the top of the stack inside Totenado; that way, there is always pressure holding the stack down from the top.

The two sides of the tote intake both have two Banebots wheels that spin to intake totes from either the landfill or the chute door.

Once the totes are inside the robot, the internal indexing stacking system lifts the totes to create stacks up to six-totes tall.

Once the landfill is partially cleared, the two arms on the back of Totenado can rotate back and use the surgical tubing between them to pull a recycling container off of the step.

Drive base:

Totenado uses a six-wheel West Coast Drive powered by two CIM motors. The front and back wheels are four-inch Vex Pro omni wheels, and the center wheels are four-inch Colson wheels.

Autonomous:

In autonomous, Totenado can drive into the auto zone.

Achievements:

Battle of the Bay: