Lifting the bridge...?

[archiver]

Posted by Chris Orimoto at 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST


Student on team #368, Kika Mana, from McKinley High School and Nasa Ames/Hawaiian Electric/Weinberg Foundation.



How important is "bridge tending" to everyone? Is
anyone creating a device SPECIFICALLY for raising/
lowering the bridge? How are you doing it?

I saw some teams with their "ball-grabbing" arms that
are "able" to lower the bridge. But is anyone doing a
device just for "gate-keeping" or "bridge-tending"?

Thanks to all...

Chris,

[archiver]

Posted by Matt Leese at 2/11/2001 9:13 PM EST


Other on team #73, Tigerbolt, from Edison Technical HS and Alstom & Fiber Technologies & RIT.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



At the moment we have a a rod attached to a motor to maniuplate the bridge. Simple, it works, and we've got the weight to spare.

Matt

[archiver]

Posted by Andres Teene at 2/12/2001 4:45 PM EST


Engineer on team #159 from Poudre High School and LSi Logic.


In Reply to: Re: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Matt Leese on 2/11/2001 9:13 PM EST:



Which motor are you using? We tried that with a 30" arm attached to the van door motor and it didn't have enough power to lower the bridge.

Andres

[archiver]

Posted by Matt Leese at 2/12/2001 5:09 PM EST


Other on team #73, Tigerbolt, from Edison Technical HS and Alstom & Fiber Technologies & RIT.


In Reply to: Re: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Andres Teene on 2/12/2001 4:45 PM EST:



Well, we aren't trying to make it 30" long so that
might be part of your problem. We just put a bar on
the window motor (like 8" but we need to make it
longer) and it worked just fine.

Matt

[archiver]

Posted by Tom S. at 2/11/2001 9:15 PM EST


Student on team #177, The Bobcats, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



I personally do not see a point in this, most robots will have some sort of arm/grabber or something else that can double as a device to lower the bridge

Adding something to your 'bot specifically to do this might be a plus, but only if oyu can spare the weight.

Just my thoughts though.

Tom

[archiver]

Posted by Andy Baker at 2/12/2001 12:41 AM EST


Engineer on team #45, TechnoKats, from Kokomo High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



We have one, but...

It is not our "major thing" that we are doing.

and...

We're over weight. Our bridge raise/lower mechanism weighs 5.5 lbs, and we're 6 lbs. over. I think that we MIGHT be able to find 2 or 3 lbs, but probably not 6. We'll see.

This mechanism was not for us anyway... it was for our partners, if they needed the bridge tended.

We may have it, we may not. We've got some desicions to make. Right now, I'm not sure what we are going to do with it.

Andy B.

[archiver]

Posted by Joe Johnson at 2/12/2001 10:10 AM EST


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: Our may be history
Posted by Andy Baker on 2/12/2001 12:41 AM EST:



The Chief Delphi Robots have been on more diets than Oprah!

At this point we estimate that we are 3 lbs over. Working on it.

At the present, weight is only one of several show stoppers that we are fighting.

One involves a simple matter of conversion between the metric method of defining gear teeth (module = millimeters of diameter per tooth) and the English method (Diametral Pitch = Number of teeth per inch of diameter).

What I WANTED was a 24 DP gear with 37teeth. What I had made was a 0.9449 module gear (24/25.4). What I SHOULD have had made was a 1.0583 module gear (25.4/24).

As the folks from the NASA mars mission can tell you, conversions between English and metric can cause a lot of grief.

Right now, I wish weight were our only problem. But it is not.

Joe J.

[archiver]

Posted by colleen - T190 at 2/13/2001 8:55 PM EST


Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science and WPI.


In Reply to: 3 lbs over weight -- going on diet... ...again!
Posted by Joe Johnson on 2/12/2001 10:10 AM EST:



Hey Joe--

If you got that sprocket that wasn't made correctly.. don't fear!! it can be put to good use-- donate it to the Hampster Playground!!

That's how the playground got initiated... did you ever know the difference between a press fit and spinning freely is only about 1/100 of an inch.. Timmy found that out!! And thus unto us the Hampster Sit 'n Spin was born!

And slowly but surely the playground expands... we even have a Slip 'n Slide that used to be one side of our arm...

So don't throw them away.. donate to the playground.. the hampsters will love!

Happy dieting!!

[archiver]

Posted by Matt Berube at 2/12/2001 3:33 PM EST


Engineer on team #49, Delphi Knights, from Buena Vista High School and Delphi Automotive.


In Reply to: Our may be history
Posted by Andy Baker on 2/12/2001 12:41 AM EST:



This is the first year that our robot will actually be under the weight limit. (by about 3 lbs!)

Our problem this year is that we are over the small parts limit by almost $200.

I guess we got so excited about being able to spend $1200 that we stopped paying attention!

Oh well. Time for some re-design.


See you guys soon.
Matt B.
T49

[archiver]

Posted by Dodd Stacy at 2/13/2001 12:28 AM EST


Engineer on team #95, Lebanon Robotics Team, from Lebanon High School and CRREL/CREARE.


In Reply to: Robot weight and other problems
Posted by Matt Berube on 2/12/2001 3:33 PM EST:



: This is the first year that our robot will actually be under the weight limit. (by about 3 lbs!)

: Our problem this year is that we are over the small parts limit by almost $200.

: I guess we got so excited about being able to spend $1200 that we stopped paying attention!

: Oh well. Time for some re-design.

:
: See you guys soon.
: Matt B.
: T49


Money??? You mean $1200

[archiver]

Posted by Chris Hibner at 2/12/2001 8:41 AM EST


Coach on team #308, Walled Lake Monster, from Walled Lake Schools and TRW Automotive Electronics.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



With 90% likelyhood, we will have a mechanism to lower the bridge for ourselves.

[archiver]

Posted by Jason Wolf at 2/12/2001 8:46 AM EST


Student on team #375, Robotic Plague, from Staten Island Technical HS and Verizon.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



Yes we actually have a device on one side that is used for ramp lowering for ourselves and also raising so other bots can come over. We had the weight to spare and also felt this would help so if we cross we can let others cross without them worriying about how to do so.

Jason
Team 375

[archiver]

Posted by Ken Patton at 2/12/2001 12:37 PM EST


Engineer on team #65, The Huskie Brigade, from Pontiac Northern High School and GM Powertrain.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



We are capable of lowering the bridge for ourselves, and I suppose in a pinch we could raise and lower for allies using an existing device.

Weightwise, we are so far under its scary. We have a ton (okay, many pounds) of ballast on the robot to get it to 130 lbs.

Ken

[archiver]

Posted by Chris at 2/12/2001 2:06 PM EST


Student on team #69, HYPER Team 69 Quincy Public Schools Gillette , from North Quincy High and The Gillette Company.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



: JUST A HINT!!!!

WE BECOME THE BRIDGE!!!!

LOOK FOR PICTURES AFTER ARE PRE-REGIONAL MINI-MEET ON FEB 16TH

chris
team 69

[archiver]

Posted by Mike Soukup at 2/12/2001 11:54 PM EST


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling and Motorola.


In Reply to: Re: we are the BRIDGE Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris on 2/12/2001 2:06 PM EST:



I don't think I can wait that long for the pics. I want to see this bot that becomes the bridge.

Mike

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Posted by Joe at 2/13/2001 6:30 PM EST


Student on team #506 from St. Anthony's HS.


In Reply to: Re: we are the BRIDGE Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris on 2/12/2001 2:06 PM EST:



lol. our team had the exact same idea. in fact we, too are "becoming the bridge" or at least half of it. No pictures availible here either.

[archiver]

Posted by Raul at 2/14/2001 12:16 AM EST


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.


In Reply to: Re: we are the BRIDGE Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Joe on 2/13/2001 6:30 PM EST:



Us too. We become "part" of the bridge.

Raul

: lol. our team had the exact same idea. in fact we, too are "becoming the bridge" or at least half of it. No pictures availible here either.

[archiver]

Posted by Tim Allen at 03/09/2001 8:05 PM EST


Student on team #57, Leopards, from Booker T Washington/HSEP and ExxonMobil, KBR, Powell Electric.


In Reply to: Foam ain't cheap
Posted by Kevin Sevcik on 03/07/2001 12:04 AM EST:



: You wouldn't think so, but those foam fingers are pricey. They're like 2 bucks a pop atleast. I know, cause I was with our logo guy when we were pricing out our extra handouts. that'd be a thousand dollar if you wanted to have enough to hand out at nationals. Most of the cool stuff is incredibly expensive. Or hard. Hard stuff if bad for throwing out from the stage and whatnot. I still remember the team that tried throwing out jawbreakers.. ::shudders::
: Anyways, Team 57 is giving out antenna balls, and hacky sacks this year. The antenna balls seemed to be popular last year, so we're gonna keep with them. Plus, they're not really that expensive. The hacky sacks are because we had to change something, so we decided to get rid of the light bulb stress balls.
: On a completely different note, I think delivery is half of the novelty of a handout. Any buffoon can throw stuff off the stage, but it takes a Grade A moron to design a semi-automatic air powered antenna ball launcher. I couldn't get enough time together this year to do it, but ya'll better look out next year.

You couldn't, but I did. It isn't semi-auto, but it should work. So would that make me a Grade B moron?

[archiver]

Posted by Adam Collet at 2/13/2001 8:14 PM EST


Student on team #159, Alpine Robotics, from Poudre High School and CSU, LSI, NASA.


In Reply to: Lifting the bridge...?
Posted by Chris Orimoto on 2/11/2001 8:37 PM EST:



Easy. Go over the 6x4, and push it down (geared glob motor). We are doing it.