Mattress Pump
 

We need to move some air and found that a mattress pump works perfectly (and easy to hook up).
http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/i/spin/100...4&op_sharpen=1

Would this be legal as is, or do we have to rip the motor out and Jerry-rig something in its place?

Looking at the rules, I'm leaning more towards the rip it out approach which would be a shame. Other teams with more experience on this have any input?

Re: Mattress Pump
 

If it's on your robot, that pump is powered by a motor that isn't in the Official List. So, sorry, not a robot part as-is.

Re: Mattress Pump
 

We put one on our bot at world's in 2013 to make an inflatable Frisbee blocking device. It was just a craftsman bed pump we got one night at the local walmart. We swapped a 550 into it and worked perfectly.

Re: Mattress Pump
 

You will need to swap the motor out with a legal one.

Re: Mattress Pump
 

I wasn't around for the Ultimate Ascent, and this got me thinking. If you could get enough air moving, could you create a "deflector shield" in front of the opposing goal? Even just playing one on one defense, a strong blast of air would have knocked the frisbees off track. Does anyone remember if any teams tried this or was it illegal?

There were a few teams that did that.

Re: Mattress Pump
 

Yes there were teams that did that back in 2013. However a Frisbee is much light and easier to change its trajectory with a gust of air than a dense foam ball (IMO). We were concerned about how much power we could get just blowing air and how effective thay would be, so we decided to funnel that air into a custom made long plastic bag (duct tape and several stadium cup bags from the concessions). It started compacted down and when we turned the air pump on it inflated.

Re: Mattress Pump
 

I remember a team, who I think was next to our pit, had a leaf blower on their robot. Or maybe it was something similar that they had wired up.