RoboMaster Swerve Drive Infantry Robot
Led embedded development for a swerve-drive infantry robot — custom encoder design, gimbal stabilization, omnidirectional chassis control, and power management. Won 1st place at the Southwest Regional and 3rd nationally at RoboMaster 2025.
Background
RoboMaster is a full-contact robot combat competition where teams design, build, and program robots from scratch. I was the embedded lead for our swerve-drive infantry — the most mechanically complex unit on the field, requiring precise omnidirectional movement and a stabilized gimbal that can track targets regardless of chassis orientation.
What I Did
Designed a layered firmware architecture (APP / Module / BSP) in C++ with full decoupling between application logic, motor/sensor drivers, and peripheral HAL. Built a self-developed hollow-shaft magnetic encoder using the MPS MA600 chip with a field compensation algorithm, achieving <0.1° error. Implemented swerve chassis kinematics with vector decomposition, 1st-order low-pass filtering for smooth high-agility movement, and PID-based current allocation to minimize wheel slip. Developed a gyroscope-closed-loop gimbal with MIT control (position + velocity + feedforward torque in parallel) and variable-speed integration, achieving <100 ms step response to 0.1 rad with near-zero steady-state error on a 2 kg gimbal driven by a 1 Nm direct-drive motor.
Challenges
Wireless debugging was critical for fast iteration on the field. Integrated Ozone + J-Link over LAN via an onboard Linux SBC, enabling non-intrusive parameter tuning without touching the robot. Encoder field compensation required careful characterization of magnetic interference from nearby motors.
Takeaways
2025 RoboMaster Super Combat — National 1st Prize (3rd nationally, 1st in Southwest). Alliance Match Southwest — 3rd place (National 2nd Prize).
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