Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

A caution about the Van Door motor... we made a winch with it in 2000, but we had to use two of them to get enough torque to do it.

Also, if you're using the Globe motors for anything, make absolutely sure there are NO SIDE LOADS on the Globes. They can't handle side loads, and will burn out very fast otherwise. We went through about 6 of them making a lock mechanism for our winch in 2000.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

The team I was on in 2000 (Team 49) also used the 2 van door motors to lift our bot in 2000.

We were under the impression that worm drives cannot be backdriven so we were a little disapointed to see that when we turned the power off after lifting, our robot slowly settled back to the ramp. We ended up having to make a possitive clamping mechanism.

MattB

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

other ways? dont forget we are allowed to use springs - you could come up with a mechasim that is spring loaded - once you hook on the enegry is release and up we go!

or how about retractable wheels! dont lift your bot, raise your feet :c)

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

I can confirm that the Van door motor do back drive. Actually, it would make sense that if these motors are used in real van doors, it is designed to be back-drivable so that whoever get trapped when the van door closes will not be crushed by the force.

So, if you are using the van door motor to lift your bot, you may want to design a locking mechanism. That is exactly what we did at 2000 when we used them to power a big arm that lift the robot body off the ground. Otherwise it will slip back down.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

Fisher Price motors, I believe, can handle the task.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

what we've got in the works for this year is a 2" bore pneumatic tube on a double solenoid. of course, its not neccisarily a motor, but it's what we're counting on.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

About the Van Door Motors:
They can be back-driven. It has nothing to do with internal clutches, or anything else. (The drill motors, however have anti-backlash pins).

You can open the vand-door motors covers up by prying off about 6 or 7 plastic tabs. Inside you will see a big plastic gear connected to a work gear. Take a large (>8") vise-grip, and attach it to the output shaft. If you turn the wrench, you will see the plastic gear inside backdrive the work gear. The fact that the gear is plastic and liberally coated with grease may have something to do with it.

For those of you who have had the van-door motor stay: perhaps you had your victor's in brake mode, which prevents a motor from spinning when a neutral signal is received.

Also, believe it or not, the Fisher-Price motors are more powerful than the van door's. Check the specs.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

You could use the Window Motor with a tape drive to push yourself up, but IIRC, the pushing force of the tape is only around 100lbs, so you would need a light robot. On the other hand, using the Window Motor with a tape to pull yourself up might not be a bad idea...

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

I bet pneumatics would be fastest.

We will probably use a van door/winch setup this year, though, as we have a design that makes getting the hook on the bar quite easy.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

Tape measures ought to do nicely.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

I don't want to reiterate the idea of pneumatics too much, but it seems like some are talking just about the new motor we have available this year and the rest aren't clear.

My thought with pneumatics is that you can easily put up a stiff arm 9' tall (10 from the floor, 9 from the platform) and then on the end of it have a nice wide pneumatic piston with a clasp/hook/whatever on it. You can activate the raising with a telescope or some simple lighter pneumatics - then you can lift up in an instant with the other one on the end. I think this might be a good approach for rookies since my experince is that pneumatics tend not to go wrong as often as the rest of the stuff.

Re: If you would "pull-up"...
 

We've trusted the CIMs for two years straight as drive motors, and they haven't let us down yet.

We're using a drill for getting ourselves off the ground, but that's all I'm saying right now :)