pic: ThunderChickens 2007

[Paul Copioli]

[cdm-description=photo]27238[/cdm-description]

[Paul Copioli]

2007 Robot:

6 motor drive - no shifting
8 bar linkage driven by Globe motor
2 lifts powered by gas shocks. Window motor "puls the pin".
2 motor roller claw end effector.

And of course, a whole lot of rivets!

[Kyle Love]

That is one beautiful machine!

[DanDon]

Amazing!

Any idea on when we'll see it in action? :p

Seriously, that has to be the most beautiful-est machine I've ever seen.

[Tetraman]

I love the way it the materials look. Very awesome!

[Corey Balint]

Can you give more of an explanation on the arm, Paul?
Its slightly confusing to me.
I'm pretty sure I get it. But I just wanna see if I'm getting it straight.

[Paul Copioli]

The last set of linkages (connecting the end effector) is a standard 4 bar linkage. The inside set of links is a 4 bar with the links crossed. This allows one motor to drive the entire assembly from the floor to the top ringer with no additional motors, pneumatics, or flip downs. We needed it to save the weight for the lifters. We wanted to do the 4 bar a la 2005, but it would have been too heavy to also have robot lifters.

[Davey H]

dang man 6 motor drivetrain! I do like the robot though very nice, Interesting end effector.

[Arefin Bari]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/27067?

Hmmm.... The Condor found it's long lost twin.

Now that I think about it... do I want to be Copioli or do I want to be Neun? How about both? =)

Looks beautiful guys. I wish we had a mentor like Paul on our team. He helped me out a lot in the beginning of the season when I asked him for pictures and such. Our robot arm was inspired by you guys and team 229 from 2005. Can't wait to see this beauty in action.

[Corey Balint]

The last set of linkages (connecting the end effector) is a standard 4 bar linkage. The inside set of links is a 4 bar with the links crossed. This allows one motor to drive the entire assembly from the floor to the top ringer with no additional motors, pneumatics, or flip downs. We needed it to save the weight for the lifters. We wanted to do the 4 bar a la 2005, but it would have been too heavy to also have robot lifters.

Ah thanks Paul, thats what I thought. Was confusing to see at first.
I love the lift, it looks familiar to another I've seen this year...

[woody]

Does your end effector rotate to take tubes from the human player? Or do you have some other sneaky plan for this? ;)

[Tetraman]

All these robots are beginning to look similar. This makes me worry and wonder.

[Tim Arnold]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Peaucellier_linkage_animation.gif

I take it that 8-Bar linkage = Peaucellier-Lipkin Linkage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaucellier-Lipkin_linkage)?

If so, incredible and awesome!

[Andrew Blair]

FIRST designed the game to generate similar designs. 1 tube at a time, no herding, 72" rule. This year, the best robots will be separated by their strategy and skill, not their mechanical design. Which is good and bad I think...

But the robot looks awesome guys! And anodizing weighs less than powder coat...:(

[Lil' Lavery]

Astounding. I can't wait to see you guys in Atlanta and Indianapolis.
I love the lift design, but I love the 8-bar even more.
How well does the gripper work if the tube isn't fully inflated?

[Joe Matt]

It looks Legoish, which isn't bad at all! Really cool! Great job guys!

[AdamHeard]

Could you explain more about how the arm works?

[Jeremytice]

Hey guys great job. Your robot looks amazing!

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Any videos? The 8 bar link seems pretty cool.

[Jeff K.]

Another beautiful bot from 217. I can't wait to see videos of it in action and see the immense power! Very nice and clean.

[Kevin Kolodziej]

Its not often that a robot leaves me speechless, but this one sure did! :eek: I think I'm in love....can I have it when you're done with it??????:confused:

Amazing job guys...and those ramps, not only are they beautiful, but if they work the way I think they work.....pure genius. I have to see this arm in person too.

I'm going to a lot of regionals this year, but you guys won't be at any of them. PLEASE don't break it before Atlanta!!!

[Gabe]

Impressive, massive robot. I do want to see that ramp deploy!

[bam_415]

thats awesome!

[Huskie65]

Very Colorful! Great bot.

[Daniel Brim]

Actually, the robot didn't remind me so much of legos as it did of a painted erector set. I think I get the gist of how the arm works, but I would love to see videos of this thing in action to make sure. Also, it amazes me how much a team can do in the weight limit with effective system integration.

[Joel J]

Interesting.

[Brandon Holley]

wow...i <3 the thunderchickens

[Rich Kressly]

Fear the Chickens ...
Paul, Can I pay you now for one of those parking spaces just in case the championship divisions line up? ;)

In all seriousness, this is astounding. How you got all of that done and made weight is simply amazing. Then again, The Chickens seem to be turning the astounding into the norm these days. Congrats.

[James1902]

Wow 8 bar linkadge, I thought our 4 bar was cool, but once again the Thunder Chickens amstound and amaze. See you at Atlanta:D

[Jimmy Nichols]

Very Cool!!

I hope we get to see you all in Atlanta. I hope we can get partnered up so we can be the Thundering Chicken Hawks.

[waiakea2024]

That is very colorful. How big is it? It seems kind of small.

[Aren_Hill]

i still wish we had time for the looks departement gah

looking forward to seeing you in st louis (we can get on those)

[Rick-906]

very nice looking
ahaha cant wait to see you guys at the GTR,
we can have a Northern Chicken Wizards reunion
hmmm, i havnt seen a picture of the wizards bot this year...

[Swampdude]

I'd like to know how many holes are in that thing... Talk about optimization, wow. Thats a piece of art. Nice work.

[Derek Bessette]

Thank goodness we are going to different regionals.

It looks beautiful and effective.

Great Work!

[Paul Copioli]

More stats:

1. 4' tall and 119.99 lbs
2. 15 lbs of bumpers
3. 2 Chicklets with 2 Logitech game pads for control.
4. QTY. 2 200 lb gas shocks for lifting robots.
5. Over 500 rivets.
6. 8 bar linkage only uses Globe motor with single speed AM gearbox (slightly modified). We use a 100lb gas shock as a balancer. The arm is 100% balanced.
7. We are currently putting up 7 - 8 ringers in 2 minutes wit NO DEFENSE. We expect to be up to 11-12 with no defense by the time St. Louis hits. We also expect that number will be reduced greatly with defense. We will also use the far ringers to get past 9 (since there is only 9 in the player station).

I will try to get a video of the practice bot up before the weekend.

[Don Wright]

It looks very beautiful and functional. I'm really looking forward to seeing it at Detroit!!!

[Steve Compton]

fantastic work, guys. can you explain how you deploy the platforms? What mechamism lowers it under control?