What material is this????

[messer5740]

So teams such as the Beak Squad this year and many other teams in 2012 had used a material to elevate balls to their shooting mechanism...

watch the video here at: https://youtu.be/zbuMVKuaqV0 to check out the Beak Squad's robot so you can better describe the material that they use.

What is this material???

[TheJoe]

It looks like a poly cord belt

[OccamzRazor]

Specifically urethane belting. We either use the solid core belting and weld it with heat or use the round hollow type and buy the end cap plugs that hold it together.

Here is where you can get it. There is a link to the connector plugs as well near the top if you go hollow type.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#round-belts/=142vrn2

[Akash Rastogi]

Urethane Belt, commonly known in FRC as "polycord"
http://www.mcmaster.com/#round-belts/=142vttm

There is also flat belting that a lot of teams have used successfully which I think many prefer now.

[Monochron]

Here's a really useful thread about polycord rollers:
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139109

[messer5740]

THANK YOU ALL!!! This could have really helped during our past season, and hopefully this info will help us in the future.

[DaveL]

In 2012, we used round 3/8" orange polycord belts from Grainger.
https://www.grainger.com/category/round-belts/power-transmission-belts/power-transmission/ecatalog/N-cc0?okey=Round+Belt&mkey=Round+Belts+&refineSearchString=Round+Belt&NLSCM=5&EndecaKeyword=Round+Belt&searchRedirect=Round+Belt

While flat belts have more contact surface and can use a smaller diameter roller, they are way more expensive than round belts.

Dave

[messer5740]

What is better? Flat of rounded belts?

[Chris is me]

What is better? Flat of rounded belts?

I've used both and I personally prefer flat belts. With round belts, you need to cut grooves or add physical guards / combs to keep them aligned. With flat belts, any crowned surface on your roller will naturally keep your flat belt aligned on top of it. These crowns can be made as easily as wrapping a bunch of electrical tape on your roller, though thin rings of PVC work even better. The flat belting also seems to have more grip in my experience with several different game pieces.

[Lil' Lavery]

What is better? Flat of rounded belts?

Depends on the game piece and your design constraints.

[GeeTwo]

What is better? Flat of rounded belts?

As already stated, flat is better for a number of situations. One where round is definitely better is when your belt run does not lie in a plane. Round belt lets you route the belt through a 3-D shape. One of our week 2-3 designs this year featured round cord in such a path, because the "simple" return route for the cord would have taken it through a bumper. We ultimately just used wheels.