Mars/Wars shoooter testing video
 

This went out on the @MarsWars4143 twitter feed yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG483EtjWKs

Early shooter testing and drivetrain integration. Lots more to come.

Re: Mars/Wars shoooter testing video
 

Love it! Looks like a really nice swerve drive too! Do you guys have a floor pick up or is it reliant on only catching. I love your design in the back for retaining the ball, but is there a way that you can prevent the ball going out the side like it did in that one case?

Re: Mars/Wars shoooter testing video
 

I like your drive and launcher a lot. I'm sure it will be very successful!

Re: Mars/Wars shoooter testing video
 

I would be very concerned about the giant structure that sticks out the back of the robot at bumper level. This game will involve a lot of full speed robot collisions.

A good frame of reference to have on stuff that sticks out of the robot is "if I kicked that part as hard as I could, would it break?"

That back structure appears to be mandatory for your design to work properly. I would recommend making it out of 1x2 rectangular box extrusion or at the very least triangulating it with some diagonal members.

Good Luck!
, Bryan

Re: Mars/Wars shoooter testing video
 

We'll iterate until 11:59.

Right now the we have a plan to a three ball autonomous. The floor pickups aren't on the bot. I think I bet someone in 8 seconds, With the second ball passing through the goal during the change in hot zones. (did anybody ask that question?)

The structure off the back is a classic engineering tradeoff. Stay small and protected or big and bold. We've tested short arms inside the bumpers and long ones with a big catching volume. Our team is debating a lot about what it should look like. We have the pieces, we just need to figure out how to put them together.

The frame off the back was just a test and wouldn't handle a hit from my grandmother's walker.