There are a few reasons for this change. First, RJ leadership felt that we, as an organization, could refocus our efforts from mentoring a single team to better serve a larger audience with activities such as producing a Robot in One Weekend (Ri1W) video and hosting design reviews to benefit multiple FRC teams at once. Second, we also wanted to better enable members from any team to participate in outreach on a more casual basis, making Outreach an endeavor that anyone in the club can be involved in. We are excited to see what fruits this new approach will bear. Even though we may be limited in our in-person outreach opportunities during the pandemic, we hope to shape the goals and systems of the committee to serve the future of promotion and education in robotics. Look forward to hearing more about our outreach activities, including participation in FIRST events, in future editions of this newsletter.

The SCC is a shared space, so we must take the other competitive teams into account when planning our semester. Currently, RoboJackets leadership is meeting with leaders from the other teams in the SCC to create a plan that simultaneously protects the health of our members and allows our physical work to continue as necessary. So far, this consists of a nightly sanitization, additional PPE requirements, limited shop days, and occupancy restrictions. We hope that through this careful planning, we can make the RoboJackets shop a safe place for our members to work. After all, our members are excited to get back in to work on their robots (in an appropriately distanced manner, of course)!

Automation in video games is certainly not a new concept. There have been complaints about aiming assistant computer bots (or “aimbots” as they are often called) for the popular first-person shooter (FPS) video games over the years. An aimbot helps put the in-game weapon sight of the player on enemies faster or more accurately as opposed to manually by the player using a mouse or joystick.These aimbots operate exclusively in software running on the player’s computer or on a console (with current generation console security this is often seen to a lesser degree) and act as an input device to move the player’s sight. 

Aimbots are often a source of frustration in FPS games, with losing to a player using an aimbot on the enemy team producing a feeling of annoyance due to the lack of an even playing field and a “cheapening” of the competitive experience. The bots are often quite effective, but their utilization typically leads to punishment by game developers as an attempt to disincentivize their use. Whether we like it or not, software can be better than humans in certain situations, and aimbots are just another example. 

Being vastly superior to humans at identifying enemies in a video game via software was not the initial intention with Aimi, though. Cory Stine, a recent Georgia Tech Mechanical Engineering Masters graduate (of course as a RoboJackets member) and initial creator of the Aimi concept, said, “I was thinking about aimbots, and I thought, ‘What if a [robot] arm aimed for me?’“

 Unlike most aimbots that operate in software, Aimi will physically move the input device, simulating a human arm and hand to move the computer mouse. It will have all of the software of a typical aimbot, including filtering the computer view and identifying a target. Additionally, there are the tasks of planning and executing trajectories to line up the shot, problems unique to a physical robot. Along with the software, the project will also require mechanical design as the basis of interfacing with the input device and electrical design for motor control along with using sensors for tracking position to make Aimi move (hopefully) accurately. With the added layers of processing required and time delays involved with moving a physical device, the development team expects a much slower response movement time compared to “traditional” aimbots or even a human. However, the fun and interesting aspect, as identified by the team, is making the process physical, not necessarily winning (while hopefully also not getting banned for using an aimbot). 

The Aimi project is still in its infancy, as the team has just begun building prototypes to solve many of the problems that will need to be dealt with in the final robot. There has been progress on automating the playing of Osu!, a rhythm game heavily focused on accurate input movements and timing. In its current stage of development, the goal is to capture the screen of the PC running Osu (“Game PC”) with a HDMI capture card being sent to another PC for processing (“Processing PC”). The Processing PC then sends back to the Game PC mouse positions and clicking commands using an Arduino, simulating a mouse. In “Osu!standard”, there are three input elements: “hit circles”, “sliders”, and “spinners”. Each input element requires a different method of interaction, with hit circles (red circles in Figure 2) requiring a click (be it a keyboard key or mouse click), sliders requiring a click and drag action in a specific path (red circles with yellow paths in Figure 2), and spinners requiring a circular click and drag action while rotating several times (not pictured in Figure 2).     

After the initial mouse simulation of Osu! is complete, work will begin on designing the robot. Some initial ideas include a SCARA robot, robotic arm, or even an omnidirectional driving robot. The team is in the early stages of physical robot design, and they will take into consideration speed, cost, and manufacturability, just as we do for RoboJackets robots! 

Aimi is a side project for a few of our members balanced with summer internships, classes, or even full-time jobs. Because of this, progress will be expected to be slow and carry on to 2021 as time permits, with the eventual goal of Aimi being able to aim in the new FPS game Valorant. Though this isn’t officially a RoboJackets project, the members involved have been using the skills learned in the organization, on both the technical and project management side. In an often typical RoboJackets fashion, the project will be open source on GitHub: https://github.com/thayes46/aimi.

First up is Gucciii. The Gucci line marks a significant change in the design approach to RoboJackets sumo bots. Prior to Gucci, RoboJackets utilized worm gears because of their inability to be back driven and high gear ratios. Gucci was the first robot that switched from this approach to spur gears, which are used far more frequently in the sumo competition space. Gucciii is the latest version in this line of robots. The Gucci line uses a compound plow, with a lower plow at a gentle angle to more easily get under its competition, and a steeper plow up higher to wrench its opponent up further. Gucci’s drive gear ratio is 4:1, and its magnets provide 415 pounds of effective weight.

Next we have Kirbii. Kirbii is another step closer to the general robot design that most other sumo robots use. It has a simplified plow, and a larger magnet force than Gucciii at 450 lbs. It also has a much larger gear ratio of 8.75:1, which better enables the robot to utilize that magnet weight.
There has been extensive electrical developments of the two Sumo robots over the years. Both have a very similar sensor suite, with 6 LiDAR sensors pointed outward to find their opponents. LiDARs (from combining the words light and RADAR) shoot out laser pulses and measure the change in time for it to bounce back to determine how far away objects are. These sensors are commonly used in automotive technology for obstacle detection. There are also two line sensors at the front of the robots to detect markings on the dohyō to prevent accidentally leaving the arena by their own power. Both robots travel at a target speed of 2 m/s with the use of brushed motors, enabling them to cross the dohyō in a (literal) second. A new development for the team this year is the addition of a radio module that enables the robots to change strategies in between matches along with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) for determining the orientation and acceleration of the robot. 

An autonomous robot would hardly be autonomous without software. The software strategy may appear simple: use their sensors to lock onto their enemy and approach. As they get closer, they accelerate to ram and dislodge the enemy from the arena. However, matches occur in the matter of seconds, so the sensing and processing must occur much faster. Because the software stack must run so fast, it cannot run on “bulky” operating systems like Linux or Windows. The software stack runs on a Teensy, an ARM-based microcontroller that has processors that run much faster than many Arduinos. The software must both interact with the sensors on the low-level to gather information and execute  high-level strategy and trajectories. The team is currently working on developing a simulator to further test and develop strategies.

The two designs were just recently reviewed by other mechanical and electrical teams in RoboJackets, and they are planned to be manufactured this year. We are tentatively planning to enter them into the All Japan Robot-Sumo Tournament in 2021, or any earlier competition we can find. We are excited to see how these designs evolve over the coming year!

1. Major and year
2. Any personal details they’d like to share
3. Their history in RJ, IE positions held, robots they’ve worked on
4. What they’ve enjoyed most about RJ
5. What they’re most looking forward to as PM

BattleBots: Cody Page

First up is the PM of our combat robotics team, Cody Page. Cody is a third year mechanical engineering student. When asked about himself, he said: “I’m from New Jersey. I’m not sure what else to say.” As a new member in BattleBots, he worked on Groovi, a drum spinner with a psychedelic paint job. Last year, he served as the 3lb Lead, who oversees and manages the 3lb program, the new member training program for BattleBots. The thing he’s most enjoyed about RoboJackets was, “getting to know all of the members, both new and old, and growing closer to them as friends and family instead of just people [he knows].” He also mentioned he enjoyed being able to get experience in a real engineering project to help him later in his career as an engineer. Finally, what he’s looking forward to most as PM is, “working with everyone and getting closer to those [he doesn’t] know.” He also mentioned that he’s been in close contact with a few other collegiate combat robotics teams and is excited to see what we can do when we collaborate with others in this space.

RoboNav: Tan Gemicioglu

Next, we have the RoboNav (formerly known as IGVC) PM, Tan Gemicioglu. Tan is a second year computer science major with threads in Intelligence and Theory. Tan is an international student from Istanbul, Turkey, and outside of RoboJackets, “[he] does research on wearable computing and work on some of [his] pet AI projects.” Furthermore, “he watch[es] a lot of anime and love[s] tabletop games.” He joined RoboNav last year and worked on Jessiii. He also acts as a committed team photographer: “I bring my camera with me whenever there’s robot action and I’ve taken a lot of photos for RoboNav and RJ events (including the famous background photo from the Hackathon demos! [the current banner photo on robojackets.org]).” On what he’s enjoyed most at RJ, he said: “I love the cross-team integration in RJ and I think that’s what really makes RoboJackets a special organization… RJ makes it clear that it’s all one team. This culture allows for a lot of mobility and learning that would otherwise be impossible.” On what he’s most excited about in the PM role, he said: “I’m very excited about our current plan to start taking part in the University Rover Challenge (URC). We’re taking several steps this year to prepare us for building a rover, manipulator, and science toolkit. I think it’s going to expand the scope of RJ and take RoboNav down an interesting path.” More to come on URC in a future issue!

RoboCup: Marine Maisonneuve

This year’s RoboCup PM is Marine Maisonneuve. Marine is a third year electrical engineering student. Marine is an international student from Paris, France. She really likes epoxy resin, and makes a variety of items, including jewelry. Her next big crafting project is a lamp. As part of her research under Professor Goldman at Georgia Tech, she has designed a robot that mimics the way a snake moves by only contracting muscles (in this case some servos and cables) on one side at a time. She got her start in RJ in RoboCup, and took positions as the RoboCup electrical lead as well as an electrical trainer this past year. She has also participated in some Outreach events. On what she has enjoyed most about RJ so far, “I made great friends. I am never bored because there is always a new thing to learn. I love long soldering afternoons with people when we talk about our life and laugh about random subjects.” As to what she’s most looking forward to this year as PM, she said, “meeting this year’s new members.” She is also looking forward to seeing how the newly upgraded hardware platform works!

RoboRacing: Shishir Pandit-Rao

RoboRacing’s newest PM is Shishir Pandit-Rao. Shishir is a second year mechanical engineering student. Shishir’s involvement with robotics didn’t just start with RoboJackets: “my goal has always been to increase the scope of robotics in my communities. I have created talk shows, done technical talks with industry, and much more in my time before RoboJackets.”  He started in RJ this past year as a mechanical member on RoboRacing, working on both Sedani (our 1/6th scale race car) as well as Rigatoni, the new evGrand Prix car. He was also involved in volunteering with FIRST Outreach events. The thing he has enjoyed most about RJ so far: “the ability to collaborate with so many like-minded individuals to effectively work towards a goal, and create a tangible product of that process.” He also said, “RoboJackets, as an established player in the robotics and STEAM game, has provided me with a platform to give back to the Atlanta and greater Georgia community in ways I never thought were possible!” On what he’s most looking forward to, he said, “I am most looking forward to effectively working through the unique challenges that COVID-19 has placed on our program to provide the most successful RoboJackets and general competition experience for our members.”

RoboWrestling: Caleb Chang

Finally, the PM of the newest RoboJackets team, RoboWrestling, is Caleb Chang. Caleb is a second year electrical engineering student. He’s been involved with RJ for one year and has worked on power distribution boards for Gucci and Kirbi in Sumo while it was part of BattleBots. A personal detail he’d like to share is that he does flips as a hobby: “Right now, I can do an aerial (cartwheel with no hands) and am currently working on a backflip.” What he’s enjoyed most about RoboJackets is “definitely the people within the organization.” He elaborated: “there are so many talented individuals in terms of technical and leadership skills that propel RJ forward. I’ve enjoyed learning from them and striving to keep improving RJ just as they have.” As the PM of RoboJackets’ newest team, he “look[s] forward to increasing RoboWrestling’s members … and seeing how the team grows closer together.” Regrettably, the All Japan Robot-Sumo Tournament in Tokyo that RoboJackets usually competes in was cancelled for 2020, but this doesn’t faze Caleb:  “Also, I’m very excited to see how our hard work will pay off in the All Japan Robot-Sumo Tournament in Winter 2021. By then I won’t be PM anymore, but I look forward to ranking higher than before!”

There is another facet of RoboJackets that is near and dear to all of our hearts: Outreach! As many alumni will remember, Outreach was its own subteam that specialized in education and promotion. Among other activities, they typically mentored a student team that participated in the FIRST Robotics Competition. In recent years, RoboJackets leadership has made the decision to change our approach to outreach and has absorbed the team into the core of the organization to better enable members from every subteam to participate. You can read more about this change in the one of the other spotlights in the September 2020 issue. The person in charge of this new outreach effort is the Outreach Chair, and they are as important to fulfilling the RoboJackets mission to promote, educate and advance the field of robotics as any other PM.

The inaugural Outreach Chair is Michael Chen. Michael is a second year mechanical engineering student. Michael has participated in robotics since before his time in RJ, including participating in the FIRST Lego League for three years in middle school and 4 years of FIRST Tech Challenge in high school. He went on to say: “before RJ, I worked a lot more on the managerial/community service aspects of a team, so I knew in college that continuing outreach through robotics was a must.” He has been involved in BattleBots, working on Hibachi, “famous for slicing a bot in half at Motorama.” He also worked on Outreach while it was still a subteam as part of RoboJackets Academy, an effort to produce educational videos for students participating in a variety of high school robotics competitions. As a part of RJ, he has enjoyed “the people most of all. Everyone is incredibly skilled and professional with how the organization is run, there’s a ton of amazing talent, and it’s a fun community of great people to get to meet.” He went on to say, “I’ve made a lot of good friends through RJ, even in just a year.” Finally, what he’s most looking forward to as Outreach Chair is “to help create a new structure of outreach where everyone is able to contribute to an organization-wide outreach effort. I believe participating in a common good brings an organization closer together, so from leadership to PMs to leads and members, it’s a great way to make an impact and bring RJ members closer together.”