DD ROBOCON 2025

Project Summary

Role: Design Lead – Mechanical Team
Team Size: 27 Members
Domain: Robotics

Led the mechanical design and development of two basketball-playing robots for DD Robocon 2025. The project involved designing reliable mechanisms for ball collection, dribbling, shooting, locomotion, and structural integration while coordinating design, manufacturing, assembly, and testing within strict competition constraints.

The Challenge

DD Robocon 2025 required autonomous and manual robots capable of collecting basketballs, dribbling, passing, and accurately scoring within a limited match duration.

The challenge was to develop robust mechanical systems capable of repeatable performance under dynamic competition conditions while remaining manufacturable, lightweight, and serviceable.

My Role

As Design Lead, I was responsible for leading the mechanical design activities across the project.

My responsibilities included:

• System Architecture
• Mechanism Development
• CAD Assembly Design
• Design Reviews
• Manufacturing Drawings
• Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
• Team Coordination
• Prototype Evaluation
• Assembly Support
• Competition Preparation

Engineering Process

Requirement Analysis

The game rules, field dimensions, robot constraints, and scoring strategy were analysed to identify mechanical requirements for mobility, ball handling, shooting accuracy, and reliability.

System Architecture

The robot architecture was divided into major mechanical subsystems:

• Chassis
• Ball Collection
• Dribbling Mechanism
• Ball Shooter
• Ball Storage
• Suspension
• Drive System
• Sensor Mounting

Mechanical Design

Mechanical development focused on designing modular mechanisms that could be independently manufactured, assembled, and serviced.

Major design activities included:

• Lightweight chassis design
• Roller-based ball intake
• Scotch-yoke dribbling mechanism
• Net-based ball collection system
• Three-roller shooting mechanism
• Modular frame construction
• Battery and electronics packaging

CAD Development

Complete robot assemblies were developed using SOLIDWORKS.

The CAD workflow included:

• Part modelling
• Assembly modelling
• Motion verification
• Interference checking
• Manufacturing drawings
• Design revisions

Manufacturing & Testing

Mechanical components were manufactured using CNC machining, laser cutting, sheet metal fabrication, and additive manufacturing.

Prototype testing focused on:

• Ball collection consistency
• Shooter accuracy
• Dribbling performance
• Structural rigidity
• Drive reliability
• Assembly improvements

Testing feedback was incorporated through multiple design iterations before competition.

Results

• Successfully developed two competition-ready robots.
• Achieved reliable ball handling and shooting mechanisms through iterative development.
• Improved manufacturability using modular mechanical architecture.
• Qualified for DD Robocon National Competition.

Key Takeaways

Leading the mechanical design of a multidisciplinary robotics project strengthened my ability to convert competition requirements into practical engineering solutions while balancing manufacturability, reliability, rapid iteration, and team coordination.