pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Looks really good, actually it's similar to our team's design.

Anyways, I am not sure how your mechanism transport balls to the shooter and the dumper. The big wheel at the top seems like a shooter, but how would you get the balls over the wheel down the conveyor belt?

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Thanks for the compliment.

Think of the hopper as Poof Ball Purgatory. The leftmost picture displays the hopper in its transportable configuration, allowing us to pick up balls from the floor, particularly. It may also be loaded by a human player.

The conveyor initially grabs balls from the floor and moves them up to the large wheel at the top -- the shooter. Since we likely won't pick up a ball or balls and be in position to shoot at the center goal, that wheel will spin slowly and 'shoot' the balls into the hopper where they will be stored.

When we're in position to score, two things may happen; the hopper may open to gravity-feed balls into a corner goal or it may move downward in preparation of shooting. In the latter instance, the conveyor again moves the balls as they come out of the bottom of the hopper up toward the shooter -- now spinning at some frightening speed -- and we shoot at the center goal.

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Nice looking design. Is your frame articulated? It looks like you might have trouble on the ramp otherwise (or maybe the ramp/platform is not part of your strategy??)

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Thanks. :)

The frame is not articulated, though it's possible to do so with some effort. There is approximately 7/8" of ground clearance at its lowest and I haven't given any consideration whatsoever to climbing up the ramp. Our students voted that as a low priority and the chassis was designed and prototyped in the off-season, so it's very reliable and easy to maintain.

I am going to add some non-powered wheels to the bottom of the conveyor to mitigate it from catching on something by accident and may add a second set of unpowered wheels toward the back as needed. They should help to control when we tip over the top and help to avoid bottoming out.

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

I see that the portion of the belt running from the top to the bottom is not being used.
Have you thought about running that section inside the hopper to continually stir the balls and prevent them from jamming?

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Yes and, in fact, that was part of my initial plan. However, I've since realized that to do that would make repairing or otherwise changing the belting difficult as everything would need to come apart to get that mechanism on and off. As I move forward with the hopper design, however, it's something that sits in the back of my head. If an elegant solution that allows me to do that reveals itself, I'll definitely use it.

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Looks like a well designed robot. Good job. Can't wait to see pics of the real thing!

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Looks awesome!

What are you planning on using for the belting/tubing to move the robot up? Also, are you powering all 6 wheels, or just the center ones?

Fantastic job

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

I presume by 'robot' you mean 'ball'? :) I'm planning currently on 1/4" diameter urethane belting from McMaster-Carr, but we are still exploring our option in that respect. I'm trying to design the conveyor system to be a plug-and-play as possible because we may need to experiment with varied belt styles and materials to find what works best.

All six wheels are powered. You can see some video of the prototype chassis here: http://students.washington.edu/fsayr...ting%20(2).avi

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Wow, I am pleasantly surprised that you have been so open about your design. It is a welcomed change here at CD, I wish more teams were as open with their robot designs. I would love to share what we have in mind, but I think my team leader would hurt me tomorrow if I did.
Your design look amazing, you must have access to great resources to be able to manufacture many of those complex parts. Lets hope it is implemented as well as it is designed :).

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

IT'S BEAUTIFUL!
:)

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Very clever and I think it will be rather unique too. Using the same conveyor belt for the hopper as for the shooter really is ingenious. Besides all that it also looks rather snazzy. Good luck putting the bot all together, can't wait to see it in action!

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

Amen, brother. FIRSTies who won't discuss their robot's design approach remind me of a 4-year-old girl who loses her bikini top at the beach -- she might be horrified, but there is really nothing to hide. Last year at PNW was only my first robotics tournament, and I saw exactly one robot design that we did not discuss during our team meetings.

I have to admit that Team XBot's approach is novel, but their strategy one that we wargamed (and showed that it should be very successful, too).

Re: pic: FRC488 - Hopper Mechanism
 

It's elegant in its simplicity; pure genius.