pic: Vex before extending
 

Re: pic: Vex before extending
 

I think it'd work better if it wasn't smaller than a tetra. ;)

I know that the robot wasn't designed to be out competiting with the bigger bots, but two questions come to mind: how big is it (dimensions and weight, maybe) and how much can its arm support?

Re: pic: Vex before extending
 

ladies and gentlemen this is a teaser to next years game "dance dilemma" where you have to use the vex kits to move ballet shoes around the floor... :D

Re: pic: Vex before extending
 

It wasn't built so much to play a game, but more to see if it could be done. Like climbing Mt. Everest.

The largest of the aluminum square tubes is 1/4 inch X 1/4 inch. It only gets smaller from there. It will lift our bamboo skewer tetras.

The fishing line (5 or 7 lbs test) is streaching a bit too much for my taste, so I'm going to try and find some better stuff.

It's a continuous loop, so the retract is easy. I have both extend and retract on the same shaft. I drilled holes in the shaft to attach the fishing line.

I learned A LOT from this little experiment:
- How to thread small wires through tight places
- How to make a continuous extending set of tubes in a simple mannor (come on, it HAD to be simple.)
- How to wire it all up.

I also considered making a hybrid continuous / cascade system. I might not have the room/skill/finger dexterity to that though...

The slipper might be too heavy to lift - didn't try. It does scare the dog half insane.

Re: pic: Vex before extending
 

it looks pretty cool!

how long did it take you to assemble and program?

Re: pic: Vex before extending
 

To program: 0 seconds. The VEX kits don't have programming YET. So it was very easy.

To put the base together: About 1 hour

To put the arm together: 1 hour.

To build it, I used a very tiny (not sure the size) drill bit to place holes into the large and small tubes. I placed a slot in the medum tube with a dremel cut-off wheel. It took 20 minutes just to thread the fishing line. I had to use a tiny set of files to trim the flash (I work with plastic) off the holes and slots.

The servo to move it up and down, and a VEX motor to run the winch.

Building ships in bottles was good training for this. It is kind of fragile.