This robot was designed, manufactured and programmed for a design competition (as part of the curriculum) held amongst first year Mechanical Engineering students at Delft university of Technology.

The goal was to create a robot that could perform a delivery as quickly as possible, while also keeping as much as possible of the delivery on board.

Our design didn’t win an award for fast delivery or keeping most water on board, but we did win the Delft Science Centre award because our design has the most potential for actual usage. Out of 50 teams competing, we built the only robot that could steer and navigate its route autonomously.

50 teams with 8 members each took part in the competition, resulting in a wide variety of designs. There weren’t many strict guidelines, except for some dimension limits. One major constraint was that forward motion could only be done with a supplied cordless power drill.

Designing and manufacturing was done in approximately five months. All of the components were carefully designed in SolidWorks (A 3D CAD tool) and we manufactured each part later on.

Love the details on this. Cooly, the drink tray tilts forward to allow the robot to accelerate without spilling drinks. Also, the keen eye can see a Lego Mindstorms compass sensor mounted on the back. [Via The NXT Step]