Innovative designs

[TubaMorg]

So here we are heading into the third week of competitions. There are a number of "how to make the regionals better" threads running right now that are quite serious in tone. I'm starting this thread to hear about the incredible robot designs out there. But here is the qualifier: I'm looking for ugly but functional, the non-machine shop robots, the "we only have a sabre saw" robots, the creative use of Home Depot and Lowe's hardware, the "I can't even spell CAD" designs.

While I am super-impressed with the laser cutting capabilities of some teams and the awesome robots that they come up with, I am even more impressed with the under-manned, under-tooled, under-computer-savvy teams out their that troll the aisles of hardware stores looking for ways to use what they see on their robots. You've all seen them at the competitions. The wobbly looking, baling wire robots that seem to kick butt.

I'll start with an example: One team found some flourescent orange snow fence netting to use for their ball hopper (sorry I forget the team number). Functional, lightweight....and ugly! I love it!

[MrForbes]

we were thinking about using that orange stuff for our hopper to meet weight, but found some fiberglass sheeting instead, and punched holes in it.

The 1897 Dragons made good use of galvanized a/c ducting and plastic lawnmower wheels, they were in the winning alliance in the Az regionals. Great job!

[Greg Marra]

I'll start with an example: One team found some flourescent orange snow fence netting to use for their ball hopper (sorry I forget the team number). Functional, lightweight....and ugly! I love it!

That team was 228, GUS. They gave us a section of it at the UTC regional when we were trying to make weight and shedding polycarb left and right. It worked really well for us, and it even matched our polycord! I'm pretty sure we weren't the only team that got our hands on some of their spare fencing. Thanks, 228!

[Michelle Celio]

We don't really machine anything on our team. The most er "advanced" thing I would say we have is a drill press which I'm scared of so I really don't know what they use it for. I mean yeah we have a machine shop at one of our schools (a small one, none the less but we didn't really use it). Most of our materials do come from Home Depot or another store of the like. We did a pretty decent job this year at UCF. We seeded 32 (of 51). I think we could of done better if part of our robot wasn't snapped off in one of the practice matches, but then again...PVC breaks easy so we should of seen it coming.



I'll start with an example: One team found some flourescent orange snow fence netting to use for their ball hopper (sorry I forget the team number). Functional, lightweight....and ugly! I love it!

We had I think the similar stuff, from your explanation that is.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v511/Mich_is_awesome/smallfordelphi.jpg

[KenWittlief]

Team 188 from Woburn - used paint rollers to pickup and transport balls to their shooter. They can capture and shoot 3 balls at a time (ball path is 3 balls wide!).

They will be a force to be reckoned with at the Toronto Regional (I saw them at FLR).

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45122&highlight=blizzard

[Not2B]

We like omniwheels. But we don't have the ablity to machine them, and don't feel like paying for them. So... we wrap skyway wheels in rip-stop nylon. Slippery, cheap, and no machining.

[abeD]

Team 710's robot was made almost entirely in a family room using a drill press and band saw, innovative would be the blockers they had made out of pvc and mesh netting. Also they're rollers for ball pick up were originally my mom's cookie rollers. :D

[akshar]

1568, used netting, could be the netting from a soccer goal, same material a little lighter for their ball hopper, it was light weight and did the job,

[TubaMorg]

Team 710's robot was made almost entirely in a family room using a drill press and band saw, innovative would be the blockers they had made out of pvc and mesh netting. Also they're rollers for ball pick up were originally my mom's cookie rollers.

Very cool! That's the first time I've heard of kitchen implements being used :)

We like omniwheels. But we don't have the ablity to machine them, and don't feel like paying for them. So... we wrap skyway wheels in rip-stop nylon. Slippery, cheap, and no machining.

I'm diggin it. Did you have any "bunching" issues?


Team 188 from Woburn - used paint rollers to pickup and transport balls to their shooter. They can capture and shoot 3 balls at a time (ball path is 3 balls wide!).

This is one of those "why didn't I think of that?" designs!

[ebarker]

The stock kit frame, with some angle aluminum from Home Depot, and some speciality plywood (baltic birch). A couple of people have asked if we did CNC, but no, just a hand drill with a hole saw.

Drill press, band saw, router, skilsaw. That is about it.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellrobotics/103248144/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellrobotics/103248107/in/photostream/

[KenWittlief]

anybody see any catapults yet?

pneumatic ball launchers?

springy poof wackers?

surgical tube slingshots?

[Eldarion]

anybody see any catapults yet?

surgical tube slingshots?
MARSBots, IIRC.

[JackN]

Team 970 used a catapult. Team 1248 used what looked like a pinball launcher to shot balls

[artdutra04]

I'll start with an example: One team found some flourescent orange snow fence netting to use for their ball hopper (sorry I forget the team number). Functional, lightweight....and ugly! I love it!That team was 228, GUS. They gave us a section of it at the UTC regional when we were trying to make weight and shedding polycarb left and right. It worked really well for us, and it even matched our polycord! I'm pretty sure we weren't the only team that got our hands on some of their spare fencing. Thanks, 228!It's not all that ugly, especially when practically your entire robot is fluorescent orange! I lost count on how many cans or Chevrolet Orange spray paint we went through... I think its somewhere around six or seven full cans. :D The snow/construction fencing is really strong and durable and is amazingly lightweight. Here was team 228's robot during the elimination rounds at UTC:

http://www.team228.org/images/2006/g8-gus-eight.jpg

EDIT: I just reread the original post in this thread, and our robot doesn't really qualify for this thread besides the fact that we used the orange fencing. :o Much of our robot (except various pieces here and there) was machined on our team's Bridgeport and a lathe.

[Bongle]

In 1141's rookie year, we used treads from a junked snowblower. In our second year, we used large tires from a junked snowblower. Both years, I believe our total expenditures on the robot was less than $100. We always scoffed when we heard other teams saying "we only spent like $500 on this". Initially, we were going to use a gearbox from an old snowblower, but it turned out it was damaged, and we ended up using pre-owned chain and sprocket. We never even opened our CAD software (this may have changed since I left, but not likely), preferring to simply write down what parts we needed.

When I was working with 1281, I was always making suggestions like "well I bet we could get that part at the junkyard" whenever we needed a part, just out of habit. Spending money on parts that you can quickly and cheaply find at a junkyard seems so crazy to me.

[Ianworld]

My team used a lot of brushes this year. While our spiral used McMaster strip brushing to push balls to the top, our collector used Duane Reade's full supply of conair hairbrushes. Cut off the handles and they fit right onto a tube of pvc. Just screwed them on and they worked great.

[Matt Gent]

Our bot (MARS 1523) uses a surgical-tubing powered catapult/jai-alai cesta launcher. The only truly machined piece on the robot is the catapult hub, everything else is bandsaw/hacksaw/drill press/etc.

Our ball hopper is a basketball net stretched between aluminum tubes.

[Po-ser]

I'm not sure whether this counts as innovative or not, but our Brecoflex treads snapped in two during a match, so we cannibalized them and wrapped them around two of our pulleys to make some last-minute wheels. Then something very interesting happened: all of the bumps and ridges on the treads literally, over the course of a few qualifying matches, rubbed away, and we had a smooth, gum-rubbery surface. With our jaws hanging on the floor, we took out all the screws that held the treads to the pulleys and reattached new ones.

There was also a rookie team, 1866, that had come with basically a moving chassis. We had two matches coming up with them, and since all they were equipped to do was basically push balls around and climb the ramp, we decided to try and help them play defense during the match. To do this, we made two "posts" out of 80/20 and wooden dowels and attached them to each end of their robot, width-wise. Then we zip-tied on some of the spare fabric we'd had left over from our bumper supply. Their robot just about quadrupled in height. :)

[Andrew Blair]

There was a team in Pittsburgh- I wish I could remember the #- That had a complete surgical catapult retracted and fired with pnuematics. As I remember, it was quite accurate and consistant. Really, really amazing to see, and it looked to be hacksaw and drill.

[Po-ser]

Another thing I thought was nice about our 'bot - at the competition at Hartford, I spotted a lot of teams using gravity feed, some using conveyor belts, and a few using pneumatic pumps to get the balls to feed into their shooters. We used a spiral with a set of brushes in the middle that rotated to brush the balls up the ramp. Our shooter mounts at the top of the ramp, and when we want to shoot, there is a fiber glass flap that we attached at the very top that extends beyond the brushes to slap the balls off the ramp and feed them in. There's no way for them to really go anywhere but from the floor into the goal (if all goes as planned, that is).

[Nuttyman54]

This was last year's last minute addition: After noticing our arm motor was running hot, we improvised a heat sink. During testing and after matches the motor was never hotter than room temp.
http://www.spartanrobotics.org/2005/Heatsink.jpg

This year we had to make our own encoder wheels because the shaft was spinning too fast to use a COTS encoder. I don't have any pictures, but it works quite nicely.

[Tim Arnold]

Our bot (MARS 1523) uses a surgical-tubing powered catapult/jai-alai cesta launcher. The only truly machined piece on the robot is the catapult hub, everything else is bandsaw/hacksaw/drill press/etc.

Our ball hopper is a basketball net stretched between aluminum tubes.

A picture of our bot (Although I don't personally think it falls in your "ugly" category) can be seen on our gallery here (http://www.marsbot.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4977&g2_serialNumber=2). The ball net (http://www.marsbot.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5466&g2_serialNumber=2) worked quite well in the end, virtually no balls bounced back out unlike teams with hard Plexiglass hoppers.

We also used plastic green garden fencing to shield our bot. It was painted black for fear of a DQ, but we have since learned we had nothing to worry about (it was a dark forest green).

Another thing to note is the front wheels (http://www.marsbot.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5341&g2_serialNumber=2) are made from glued-together PVC end caps. The rear wheels (http://www.marsbot.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=3292&g2_serialNumber=2) are homegrown styrofoam and fiberglass with about six layers on them. They were sanded on a lathe and a rubber conveyor belt track was added for traction.

[irishninja]

Ian thats what I was going to say. Plus I think 375 used metal backed cardboard for their spiral hopper. Not ugly, but pretty smart, light, and cheap.

[Master Dictator]

If you were at NJ regional my team 528 we used that big orange snow netting. No problems with it at all. :D

[AcesPease]

It's not all that ugly, especially when practically your entire robot is fluorescent orange! I lost count on how many cans or Chevrolet Orange spray paint we went through... I think its somewhere around six or seven full cans. :D The snow/construction fencing is really strong and durable and is amazingly lightweight. Here was team 228's robot during the elimination rounds at UTC:

http://www.team228.org/images/2006/g8-gus-eight.jpg

Looking at the picture I see team 1665's bot. I don't know exactly what they made the spiraling ball ramp with, but it looks like it fits the requirements of this thread.

Also at UTC were the underrated #2 seed, team 716. They used a long piece of cloth for their ball "box" and when they wanted to empty it they pulled it over a bar like a window shade, lifting the bottom and emptying the "box"! The shade was even tie dyed with a question mark like their uniforms, very functional and unique.

I suppose our bot does not qualify for this thread, but we did use ordinary window screening and velcro to make our ball box. And the spiraling hose on our beater bar is 3/4" hose found in any high school chemistry lab.

Bill Pease
Aces High Team 176
2006 UTC New England Champions with 177 and 1124
2006 BAE Granite State Finalists with 319 and 562

[SizzelChest330]

1006 (Fast Eddie) Had a hockey stick on the left and right side of their robot

Inovativeness :D

[shamuwong]

Another robot that deserves mention is 308. They were an awesome robot at GLR, though I didn't get to see them in-depth. Their robot was made almost entirely of plastic. When I first saw it, it was so clean looking that it looked like a commercial robot, and watching the whole revolver-hopper mechanism and pneumatic catapult (i think) shooter was like a plastic robotic ballet. If you happen to be at the same regional as them, I would definitely reccomend checking that robot out.

As for our robot...well...it has some netting on our expansion that one of the parents picked out. It changes color in different lighting, from gold to green. It looks like a medley of porta-potty contents, but is rather neat anyways.

[TubaMorg]

Everybody thanks for your posts so far. They really make me smile! :) It's really great to hear the creative ways teams have constructed their robots. I really like the emergency repairs. Keep em coming!

[Chris Hibner]

Another robot that deserves mention is 308. They were an awesome robot at GLR, though I didn't get to see them in-depth. Their robot was made almost entirely of plastic. When I first saw it, it was so clean looking that it looked like a commercial robot, and watching the whole revolver-hopper mechanism and pneumatic catapult (i think) shooter was like a plastic robotic ballet. If you happen to be at the same regional as them, I would definitely reccomend checking that robot out.

308's robot is probably the most unique robot of the competition this year. Since I work at TRW in Farmington Hills (308's sponsor) and used to be a mentor on that team, I have all of the inside scoop on the design.

The entire hopper/feeder/shooter mechanism is completely mechanically coordinated and timed, much like a watch. It is all driven off of one motor that continuously spins. It drives a Geneva Mechanism that indexes the sorter, then winds the rubber band of the lost-motion catapault. Once the band is wound, the arm flings the ball and the whole thing starts again. They can shoot about 2 balls per second this way. They have a really nice video of it shooting 10 balls in about 5 seconds during the build season. Maybe I can find a way to have them post it somewhere.

[ebarker]

[QUOTE=Chris Hibner]308's robot is probably the most unique robot of the competition this year. Since I work at TRW in Farmington Hills (308's sponsor) and used to be a mentor on that team, I have all of the inside scoop on the design.

You got my curiosity up. I went to their website and could find nothing. Could you get someone to put a picture up there.

Ed

[Dan Richardson]

Heh 1902 we used a laundry hamper for our human loader netting and we used the string from it for our " Spherical Scoring Object Seperation Mechanism " or S.S.O.S.M. It seperated the balls into 2 stacks in our hopper so it can't bind hehe.

Also tools are important to have on the bot, we used a c clamp so the ball must choose a side to come in on when sucking the balls up.

710's roller pin was hillarious to see tho was a great use of house hold items.

[J Flex 188]

I think thats been a tradition of theirs to incorporate some part of a hockey stick somewhere on their robot no matter what the game. I remember in 2003, they had two blades on each side and a low profile robot. Made a for a good pusher and herder :rolleyes:

1006 (Fast Eddie) Had a hockey stick on the left and right side of their robot

Inovativeness :D

[s_forbes]

Another awesome team at Phoenix was 1633, who made their robot with a garbage can, plywood, cardboard, and kit of parts pieces. It worked amazingly well given the materials!

http://www.selectric.org/nerds/2006az/1633pits.jpg

[TubaMorg]

Another awesome team at Phoenix was 1633, who made their robot with a garbage can, plywood, cardboard, and kit of parts pieces. It worked amazingly well given the materials!

http://www.selectric.org/nerds/2006az/1633pits.jpg


That is the coolest, the ultimate in function over form :) And made from just regular every day parts!

[Lithium]

Thanks for the compliment. We definitely fit in this category, where most of our bot was made with a drill press and hack saw!

we were thinking about using that orange stuff for our hopper to meet weight, but found some fiberglass sheeting instead, and punched holes in it.

The 1897 Dragons made good use of galvanized a/c ducting and plastic lawnmower wheels, they were in the winning alliance in the Az regionals. Great job!

[Steph]

I think thats been a tradition of theirs to incorporate some part of a hockey stick somewhere on their robot no matter what the game. I remember in 2003, they had two blades on each side and a low profile robot. Made a for a good pusher and herder :rolleyes:


Excellent observation :) Yes, on every robot with the exception of last year's we have used hockey sticks. In 2003 they were used to knock over the boxes, in 2004 they were used to herd balls. This year they have no function, but were dedicated to two of our mentors who were unable to travel with us because of recent surgery. They are signed by our team members.

As for innovative designs, I was impressed by 1897's use of what appeared to be stove pipe, and their mass amounts of zip-ties. It just looked plain cool. (Not to mention was awesome defensively.)

EDIT: I just read the post above mine, it appears others agree :) Great work guys (and girls)!