Jousting: Mechanical Design
To both joust and retract the lance, we designed a two-axis, servo-actuated jousting mechanism. When deployed, the sweeping servo swings the lance between two positions at the front and the back of the robot. To retract the lance, the sweeping servo moves the lance forward and the base servo turns the sweeping servo-lance assembly 90 degrees to point the lance upwards. The jousting mechanism sweeps the lance to try to catch opponents in front and behind the robot and to prevent the lance from turning the whole robot when trying to hit a static opponent.