MathWorks presents the Simulink Design Award at the BEST Robotics Regional Championships every year to the teams that make the best use of MATLAB and Simulink in the competition to program their robots. The following are the videos from the winning teams of the BEST Robotics Simulink Design Award from previous years.
2017 Winners
Texas BEST Regionals
Ereckson Middle School CoCo BEST
This model shows a Stateflow chart that implements custom joystick controls for the robot. The team also implemented a redundant firing mechanism with two buttons to prevent unwanted firing.
South's BEST Regionals
Eastwood/Cornerstone Schools War Eagle BEST
This team implemented Simulink simulations with two different inputs using dashboard buttons and a gamepad, as well as dynamic controls to change between left-handed and right-handed drivers seamlessly.
Frontier Trails BEST Regionals
Council Grove High School Kansas BEST
The Simulink model takes advantage of dead bands to improve the drivability of their robot. The team was also able to verify their logic with simulations before programming the robot hardware.
Northern Plains BEST Regionals
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Wolverine BEST
Designed a “creeper mode” using MATLAB functions to slow down the movement and increase the precision dynamically when driving the robot. They also used simulations to verify behavior of opposing servos and the firing mechanism.
Denver BEST Regionals
STEM High School Highlands Ranch Front Range BEST
This team used Simulink to toggle between arcade and tank drive modes to accommodate for different drivers. They also programmed an automated feeder for their shooter and verified the complete robot behavior by using simulation displays.
2016 Winners
South’s BEST Regionals
Eastwood/Cornerstone Schools War Eagle BEST
The Simulink model is divided into four subsystems and uses Stateflow charts and Simulink blocks to control the robot. It was designed with simulation in mind, using a gamepad simulator as well as value display blocks throughout the model.
Frontier Trails BEST Regionals
Athens Bible School Little Rock BEST
Designated Agriculture Robot’s (DAR) Simulink model controls locomotion; corn, lettuce, and tomato harvesting; planting; watering; and pig wrangling.
Northern Plains BEST Regionals
DuBois Area High School Penn State DuBois BEST
The Simulink model utilized a tank drive system with custom dead bands and slew rates. It included a precision mode and a control orientation toggle. Programming solutions were employed to prevent damage to components and some common driver errors.
2015 Winners
Texas BEST Regionals
Manthano Christian Academy Dallas BEST
The Simulink model of robot used blocks from the VEX Library, Stateflow charts, and a 3D field model (V-Realm Builder) for simulation. The 3D plant model evaluated different base and wheel sizes for the robot design. The model also included MATLAB code translated from existing C code for debugging purposes.
South’s BEST Regionals
Brooks High School Northwest Alabama BEST
The team used a completely custom Simulink model to program their robot, REAPER. The model incorporated several advanced features including complex Stateflow logic used to give the program unprecedented adaptability and intuitiveness.
Frontier Trails BEST Regionals
Campus High School Kansas BEST
Their Simulink model consisted of simple math blocks along with the joystick and motor blocks to design drive control for the wheels, arm, and the gripper. The model contained simulation inputs and displays to test the program behavior.
Northern Plains BEST Regional
DuBois Area High School Penn State DuBois BEST
The Simulink model was written from scratch and consisted of six main sections, one for each functionality. The model used subsystems to group blocks increased readability yet allowed inspection by looking under the mask.
