Most creative use of a part or material in 2008

[Jared Russell]

One of my favorite parts of FIRST every year is walking through the pits and seeing the ideas people have come up with. Literally every design that our team has on the white board after kickoff will be seen at some point or another, no matter how crazy, complicated, or impossible we thought they were!

And then you see something that you never, ever thought of.

I just wanted to hear some stories about outside-the-box thinking when it comes to material and parts utilization. I can only go to so many competitions each year, so I want to know what other crazy stuff is out there!

I'll start with a robot that knocked my socks off:

1218 - Chestnut Hill Academy :eek:

At Chesapeake I looked at their robot and was floored. Their frame was made out of the coolest, lightest, and cheapest material I have ever seen - broken NHL hockey sticks! One of their kids worked at the Philadelphia Flyers practice facility and was able to get his hands on some broken composite sticks. The strength-to-weight ratio of a stick is unreal, and a broken hockey stick has virtually zero value.

On top of that, their launcher consisted of an aluminum step ladder (reinforced in places) used as a catapult. Yet another light, sturdy enough, and creative use of a part.

So, what have YOU seen?

[Tapoore]

Team 846 (http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/team.php?team=846&year=2008)'s Rubbermaid suction cup.

[Ben Martin]

At West Michigan, team 2337 used a seven-pound hammer filled with small pieces of metal to "kick" the ball over the overpass. It worked well, especially combined with a fast drive and an effective pickup.

[SamC]

team 2174's use of trash can lids to corral the ball around the track.

[Spider-Man]

I'm sure that I'm not alone in being amazed at Team 272's use of an electromagnet to tension the slingshot on their robot.

I only saw their robot with a trackball loaded at the end of a match once... facing the crowd the electromagnetic ceased to have electricity as it is wont to do at the end of a match, and the trackball was unleashed to bounce on the only judge sitting along judge's row. :eek:

[JesseK]

We entertained the idea of using a kitchen wok to grab the ball with. We never prototyped it though.

[=Martin=Taylor=]

Team 1388's prosthetic leg. (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/29973) :D They didn't actually use it in competition, but their robot was still plenty cool.

[Qbranch]

45 TechnoKats use of quite possibly the most unbelieveably cool slip-ring i've ever seen... no no, brushes weren't good enough... they went for liquid mercury... :yikes:

Not to mention that part figures into the most mezmerizing robot manipulators i've yet seen....... the gripper go round. *twilight zone crescendo*:ahh:

-q

[colin340]

One of my favorite parts of FIRST every year is walking through the pits and seeing the ideas people have come up with. Literally every design that our team has on the white board after kickoff will be seen at some point or another, no matter how crazy, complicated, or impossible we thought they were!

And then you see something that you never, ever thought of.

I just wanted to hear some stories about outside-the-box thinking when it comes to material and parts utilization. I can only go to so many competitions each year, so I want to know what other crazy stuff is out there!

I'll start with a robot that knocked my socks off:

1218 - Chestnut Hill Academy :eek:

At Chesapeake I looked at their robot and was floored. Their frame was made out of the coolest, lightest, and cheapest material I have ever seen - broken NHL hockey sticks! One of their kids worked at the Philadelphia Flyers practice facility and was able to get his hands on some broken composite sticks. The strength-to-weight ratio of a stick is unreal, and a broken hockey stick has virtually zero value.

On top of that, their launcher consisted of an aluminum step ladder (reinforced in places) used as a catapult. Yet another light, sturdy enough, and creative use of a part.

So, what have YOU seen?

for the past to year we've use hockey sticks we try to use broker ones from the high school team but they were too short but even new ones were only 20$

[smurfgirl]

[QUOTE=Abwehr;732066]At Chesapeake I looked at their robot and was floored. Their frame was made out of the coolest, lightest, and cheapest material I have ever seen - broken NHL hockey sticks! One of their kids worked at the Philadelphia Flyers practice facility and was able to get his hands on some broken composite sticks. The strength-to-weight ratio of a stick is unreal, and a broken hockey stick has virtually zero value.
QUOTE]

Know what's crazy? We prototyped a robot design using skis- yes, SKIS. We thought we'd be the only snow-worthy robot at the Connecticut Regional. We didn't end up using them... insted we built our gripper from driveway reflectors used for snow. I guess we were stuck in the New England winter theme with our robot.

I'm not sure I can think of any crazy parts or materials at our regional this year. I know there must have been some, but I can't think of any right now.

[Racer26]

<nitpick>

I'm sure that I'm not alone in being amazed at Team 272's use of an electromagnet to tension the slingshot on their robot.

I only saw their robot with a trackball loaded at the end of a match once... facing the crowd the electromagnetic ceased to have electricity as it is wont to do at the end of a match, and the trackball was unleashed to bounce on the only judge sitting along judge's row. :eek:

It seems to me that this would be a violation of <R60>:

Items specifically PROHIBITED from use on the ROBOT include:
 Electric motors and/or servos different from, or in addition to, those in the Kit Of Parts, with
the exception of those specifically permitted by Rule <R59>.
 Electric solenoid actuators (note: electric solenoid actuators are NOT the same as pneumatic
solenoid valves – the latter are permitted, the former are not).

EDIT: Well, it might not be an 'electric solenoid actuator', thereby not violating the letter of the rules, but it works on the same principles (electromagnetism) and thusly, it certainly violates the spirit of the rules.

</nitpick>

[The Lucas]

<nitpick>



It seems to me that this would be a violation of <R60>:



EDIT: Well, it might not be an 'electric solenoid actuator', thereby not violating the letter of the rules, but it works on the same principles (electromagnetism) and thusly, it certainly violates the spirit of the rules.

</nitpick>

They asked the question in the Q&A during build and the GDC allowed it (http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=8719). 284 also used an electromagnet to release their shooter.

[ttldomination]

Team Chimera used a trash can and they stuck oscar the grouch inside of it. They used it to knock balls off...it's really cool and effective.

[Qbranch]

They asked the question in the Q&A during build and the GDC allowed it (http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=8719). 284 also used an electromagnet to release their shooter.

I can see this as a divergence from the topic of this thread so I'm guessing it should be moved if it turns into a big debate... but isn't the Q&A contradicting itself here?

As long as the electromagnet does not cause interference with other Robots or violate any other parts use rules, then it would be acceptable

A solenoid is nothing more than an electromagnet with a slug in it to pull/push a load. What's the difference that doesn't make this "violate any other parts use rules"?

Wow... if I would have known this existed I could have at least built the prototype linear mass driver that I wanted to throw the ball with... :(

-q

[Alan Anderson]

A solenoid is nothing more than an electromagnet with a slug in it to pull/push a load. What's the difference that doesn't make this "violate any other parts use rules"?

The difference I see is that 272's electromagnet didn't actively move anything. It just held an object in place (and released it on command).

[Rick TYler]

Skunkworks (1983) cut up an aluminum extension ladder to build their elevator: http://ahsrobotics.us/robotics/. Skunkworks is going to Championships as winners at Seattle.

Team 1346 used hockey sticks to grip the ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91j9iyWNIn8. It's appropriate. They're from Canada.

[Steve W]

Team 188 also used electronic magnets like the ones on doors. These held the elevator in place till released then gas shocks pushed the elevator forward to eject the ball.

[Herodotus]

Out of the robots I personally witnessed my personal favorite design was 2337, because of their unique ball hammering method. It's one of the most creative way's I've seen to launch the trackball.

On a side note, we were going to use an electromagnet to hold down our launcher but we at first interpreted the rule as being no electromagnets whatsoever. By the time we realized we could use a magnet, we already had a working trigger.

[Ericgehrken]

Team 1155 had a fork lift style launch that used garage door rails as the rails for their forks to ride in. This was by far the simplest way to build a fork lift. There was little machining involved and worked out great.

[blaxbb]

One team (forget which number) at NYC used a backscratcher that we were giving out to knock the ball off of the overpass.

[lasereyes]

Team 1388's prosthetic leg. (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/29973) :D They didn't actually use it in competition, but their robot was still plenty cool.

What about 1388's broom/rake mechanism to knock off balls?

[Grant Cox]

2337 is, without question, the single COOLEST robot I have EVER seen at a FIRST competition. Bullet Bill is amazing.

[Brian C]

Team 1468 used the soles from a pair of Sketcher sneakers mounted to their claw to grip the ball.

It worked real nice too............

I have to admit it felt funny writing it on the BOM though :D

[Herodotus]

I have to admit it felt funny writing it on the BOM though :D

Speaking of funny BOM items, to connect a servo to our trigger we needed some kind of rod we could bend into a good shape to act as a linkage between them. While scrounging around the shop for something I discovered a damaged umbrella that wouldn't be keeping the rain away anymore, so I cut off one of the poles that keeps the fabric taut and bent that into a linkage.

Of course when it came time to list it on the BOM we we're debating what the average cost of an umbrella was, and then someone pointed out we technically only used a portion of the umbrella. :p

Needless to say, we still have the umbrella cause it has many neat little parts for future use.

[Alan Anderson]

Of course when it came time to list it on the BOM we we're debating what the average cost of an umbrella was, and then someone pointed out we technically only used a portion of the umbrella. :p

Remember that you can only pro-rate your cost based on the smallest piece commercially available. If you can't buy an umbrella stay by itself, you must account for the entire umbrella.
:P

[AndyB]

Remember that you can only pro-rate your cost based on the smallest piece commercially available. If you can't buy an umbrella stay by itself, you must account for the entire umbrella.
:P

Never thought we'd have to have that conversation regarding umbrellas...

[octothorpe]

Unfortunately I never got a chance to see their robot up close, but I heard that Team 100 (WildHats) used magnetic reed switches from a window alarm system to monitor the position of their elevator, and a bike disc brake to anchor the elevator drum in place when extended. At any rate, it worked very well for them at SVR!

[=Martin=Taylor=]

Unfortunately I never got a chance to see their robot up close, but I heard that Team 100 (WildHats) used magnetic reed switches from a window alarm system to monitor the position of their elevator, and a bike disc brake to anchor the elevator drum in place when extended. At any rate, it worked very well for them at SVR!

Surprisingly, we weren't the only team to use a disk brake. There were at least five others at the Oregon Regional :eek: I was quite surprised.

I know for a fact that 1540 and 1280 were using them.

We used this one (http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2554/sscn3209yt0.jpg); it was really easy to implement. If you ever have need for a braking system check these things out. They're easy to rig up to a piston.

[Karin1649]

My Team uses a trash can lid connected to two vacuums as a suction device.