Sumo Robot (ME72)
3 kg robot that pushes 100+ kg, 1st place at Caltech
For Caltech’s ME72ab capstone design competition, teams built and fought three robots each: wheeled RC, wheeled autonomous, and a walking RC robot. As mechanical design and drivetrain lead, I developed a robot capable of pushing over 100 kg at a weight of 3 kg, using two electric-skateboard-sized motors and over 180 kg of magnetic downforce. My team placed first in the 37th Annual Engineering Design Competition.
Recap Video
Every year, Caltech’s ME72 capstone design project class has a unique competition amongst its enrolled students to build and compete with robots designed and developed throughout the course of two terms. When I took the class, the competition was sumo robots, which was a deceptively simple-sounding engineering project that ended up being very involved with many nuances. Here is a recap video I made summarizing the whole two-term experience of building and fighting sumo robots!