Artemis was the Zebracorns’ robot for CRESCENDO, the 2024 FIRST Robotics Competition game. Robots scored foam rings called Notes into three field targets: the Speaker, Amp, and Trap. I led the shooter design, developed the robot’s master geometry and bumpers, and served as one of three mechanical leads overseeing fabrication and assembly.
The shooter needed to fit within the robot, pivot through a wide range of angles, and launch Notes consistently from different positions. Our prototypes explored wheel size, material, compression, and feeding geometry before we settled on a compact top-and-bottom wheel arrangement.
What changed after testing
Early competition exposed problems that the first design specifications had missed. A gas spring intended to support the shooter made its pivot harder to control, while limited feeder contact allowed Notes to slip during handoff. We removed the spring and increased the feeder’s contact area, working with the programming team as they refined pivot control.
The final shooter weighed 17.9 lb and had no mechanical failures throughout the season. At the NC District Championships, its longest recorded successful Speaker shot was 20.7 ft. Trap scoring remained unreliable in competition, even after promising tests in the lab.
That contrast was the biggest lesson: a mechanism can be mechanically reliable and still need better control, integration, and a more realistic scope. Our ambitious scoring goals took time away from tuning the robot’s core capabilities. Those lessons helped shape the simpler approach we took with C4 the following season.
Engineering design report
The report follows the prototypes, test methods, competition observations, and design changes in detail.