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Antenna design
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We have seen many robots having antennas like team SCREAM:
Attachment 20464 and 3005 RoboChargers: Attachment 20465 Can you elaborate on the materials and design used? Also if your team has a different antenna design, or have further ideas, can you share them with the FRC community? ::rtm:: CHEESECAKING Thanks and good luck to all teams in regionals!!! |
Re: Antenna design
On FRC3005, we used black 1/8" polycarb for our antennae. There is also different colored tape on the front and back of each one so the driver can tell the orientation of the robot.
You can vary the width of the antenna to change how "floppy" they are while driving around and still making sure they are compliant enough to bend down under the low bar. Be sure to pack a few extras, we lose 1-2 per competition. |
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They're generally some sort of flexible material supplemented by a springy base. You could try something like these if you're pressed for weight.
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Team 945 (Team banana) used something similar, they were flimsy enough to swing around but held on to the robot well.
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Team 423 also used "antennas", but we accidentally made them too heavy by adding signage at the top. This caused them to constantly sag and get in the way of everything. Also, they generally cannot go up to max height because when they fold down they cannot stick out more than 15" past the bumpers. We ended up taking them off and making static PVC poles at the height limit for matches where we think there may be a vision issue. It means we lose low goal capability, but we gain vision behind tall defenses, which is much more important in our opinion.
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We used painted 3/16" fiberglass rod epoxied into a stiff spring with a machined aluminum coupler. The bottom of the spring was attached to the robot frame I can try to find a photo of the mount if there's interest;
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![]() We're using something like these fiberglass reflector rods cut down a bit. They go into some aluminum clamps at the bottom that are all pivoted on the same screw. The outside poles have surgical tubing to keep everything centered. I think it's important to go with something pivoted front/back or that can't bend sideways like those lexan strips, other wise you risk them bending sideways out of the 15". Also having 2 colors front/back or side to side so the driver will know the orientation of the robot. |
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What are these for?
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See you at champs...:yikes: |
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Thanks to all!! Basically it all narrows to rods with springs and polycarb sheets... Thanks!!!
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I saw a team that used old halves of pool noodles - they bent when going under the low bar, and then popped straight back up. they were bright green too, easy to see
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You could try getting a pack of really long zipties. That or try finding something like those flexible thin plastic driveway/road markers.
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I suggested we get a bunch of fans and hook it up to a speed controller and get a inflatable tube man. Unfortunately my idea was shot down
https://youtu.be/cvaRGiMWRaE |
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We used Orange Fiberglas arrows ($3.00 each at Dick's Sporting Goods) with two different color fletchings. We cut the points off and epoxied to door stop springs ($1.50 for two at Lowe's). They work great!!
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If you were to grab one and forcibly twist it while pulling sideways, you might be able to get it outside of 15", but they don't interact with the defenses that way, nor do they have enough weight to do so on their own. |
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2363's flag solution really suffered when it got battered by the low bar. At our most recent event (VAPOR), about 14% of all our recorded pit activity went towards flag maintenance/repair, mostly in <5 person*minute chunks. Our drivers really liked having them though. |
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I saw one team with long zip ties with small colored flags from duct tape
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Our is 1/2" ID 3/4" OD Nylon tube that encase LEDs. LEDs, where not used at our 1st competition but will be used next week in Minneapolis.
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We have had a lot of requests on our flag design. We call them our "ding-a-lings"
We definitely got a kick out of it when the game announcer started calling them by their names as well. Overall they are pretty simple. We bought ATV flags from this site: http://aditudegear.com/flags We also bought a spring mount like this: http://www.amazon.com/Wheeler-Whip-S.../dp/B005HJL94A The spring mount was far too rigid so we went to Lowes and bought another spring and custom turned a plug to press fit it in the spring that was better suited for us. It is the same exact concept as the one I referenced above. We then mounted this spring base to an angle bracket on the side of our poly-carbonate shields. You can kind of see the mounting application on the picture that the OP provided. They work great for us and we love the visibility that they provide. They also help us square up on the defenses better because we can see them over the tall defenses. Hopefully this helps! |
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