Week 01 — Sept 7-13, 2025
Overview
The main objective this week was to converge on a problem space after initial meeting with professors highlighted the lack of clarity in the presented ideas, which delved into issues found in industry but did not include the context specific knowledge required for a clear understanding.
Discussed as a group and settled on the idea of a robot aimed at training volleyball players at the highest level, specifically focusing on the role of the "setter" on a volleyball team. The setter is a unique position, where the ball is received and perfectly delivered to different positions above the net at varying heights, speeds, and arcs, all with minimal to no spin.
There are serving machines that start at $5000, and a one-of-a-kind blocking robot that the Japan national team uses, but nothing out there for training hitting. The idea is not to build a ball launcher (this would be nowhere near the same function), but a robot that could mimic the advanced, high-speed, high-level brain of an experienced setter, all in a compact, satisfying, and less expensive solution. This means tackling the problem of a 3-dimensional set, achieving accurate horizontal and vertical position, and delivering the ball with the correct tempo (velocity). The end goal is to give the robot a specific point and type of set, and then watch it continuously send it to the exact same position each time.
MVP Requirements:
- set ball with little/no spin
- stationary base
- different positions above net
- different tempos
- different arcs
Additional Scope
- vision system for automatic set on hitter approach
- robot moves around court to practice "out-of-system" attacks
- rapid fire for multiple hitters
- reach out to varsity volleyball teams/organizations
Individual Updates
No individual updates for this week.