Re: Intake Motors...
 

If it wasn't for that big ol' bag on the robot...
Now I have a reason to get that switch onto the practice robot.

Our frame serves as the mechanical stop for the totes, extending the life of the switch to beyond one cycle. :)

Re: Intake Motors...
 

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about :)

Re: Intake Motors...
 

Two other techniques we considered for our ball pickup last year are:

1. Make the frictional force low enough that when the game piece is fully in place, the wheel slips. Problems with this method include possibly reduced intake force and rapid wear on your rollers.
2. Monitor the current draw on the motor and cut it off quickly when it spikes. This used to require custom current sensors, which we had purchased from pololu, but now they're built into the power distribution panel.

Last year we used our solution number one, as the balls were compliant and not much force was needed to pull them in; it may not be a good solution this year.

Re: Intake Motors...
 

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0915a.htm

^^^^ Is this what you are talking about because i believe I am going to place an order for these right now..

Re: Intake Motors...
 

There are options. If you just want the gearbox, gearbox with 500 series motor, or gearbox with RS775 series motor. Please ensure the motor you use is one that is allowed from R18 in the manual. There are also PG series parts that may be of interest as well.
Nate

Re: Intake Motors...
 

I swear to you, Sarath, I came here to post this, read your post and was about to send it to you, like 'Hey! Someone else did it our way too!" ...Whoops.

Something we did notice during driver's practice is that with our wheels running, simply touching a tote from with the outside of the intake (read: we're not at -all- lined up to grab that tote, off by a huge angle) breaks up the cluster of the Landfill pretty quickly and gets the tote lined up for us to better close in on it. So, while our actual tote intake is a bit slower, we can get individual totes lined up for capture with very little effort.

Re: Intake Motors...
 

Depending on the game, a good rule of thumb I like to go by is to always gear your intake a bit faster than the speed you'll likely be approaching the game piece at. For example, in 2014, many teams approached the balls on the ground pretty quickly, and if their intake was slower than their drive speed they'd end up pushing the ball around with them as they drove. Teams who geared their intakes faster than the speed they were approaching the balls at could drive up to one and have it in their possession almost instantly.

This year most teams aren't going to be approaching totes and bins head on at high speeds (let's hope they don't, at least), so while intakes should be fast, they won't have to be as fast as they have been in previous years.

Re: Intake Motors...
 

Yes, that's the PG27 with the motor and the rear axle extension for an encoder. That extension may be a problem if you currently have short clearance behind the motor, but it'll save a swap out step if that's OK. If you just want the PG27 gear box for $14 less, it's here:

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2937.htm