2014 robot modification
 

howdy

as of today, now that our build season is over, we are getting to the old bots, and finally repairing them.
That said, our old bot, atlas, used tubing to provide the power to fire the ball. We had 9 1/2in sections, 4 in total, all of them shredded and broke. And they keep doing it, so we're looking for a alternative. We need something that's durable, but not as powerful. We use a winch to draw the launching piston ( non pnumatic ) back, and let the winch spool out to let it go. We must keep the winch system to draw the piston back, but we need other options to replace the tubing. Any ideas ? If it can be easily implemented, that would be preferable, but any other idea is welcome.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

Speargun band works well. It's more durable than surgical tubing.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

A picture is worth a thousand words... It's had to offer advise without knowing the details of the Design that's already in place. Have you determined Why the tubing was shredding? We used tubing the entire season and it never broke.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

Springs will last longer as long as they are not exposed to water/moisture.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

I cannot get you pictures today as the entire assembly has been disassembled for cleaning ( the tubing literally exploded into thousands of chunks inside the arm it was housed in ) so after its cleaned I will get you photos of the assembly, not fully put together, but enough for you to understand how it originally went together.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

The problem is probably the age of the tubing (or more specifically, how long it has been exposed to air). In my experience, latex gloves (and presumably tubing) become brittle over time when exposed. I'm not sure if it's due to outgassing, a slow burn, or a combination of effects. If it was working last year at competition, replacing with the same product should give you several months of functionality.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

As far as we can tell, it's the same stuff.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

We used springs. Something did wear them out though, possibly overstretching or leaving it stretched for long periods. Keeping them in less extreme conditions should fix that.

Re: 2014 robot modification
 

We used Vulcan constant force springs. (3)x40 pounds each. There may be a voucher in the KOP.