pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

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I presume those tubes are within your BUMPER PERIMETER.

I'm concerned about the offset in the frame, though. You've made the sides of the bot not on the BUMPER PERIMETER, so you have no legal method of attaching BUMPERS.

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

Just make sure you read the bumper rules very carefully before building the machine as pictured.

Great looking model!

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

We are currently in the process of working on our bumper mounts. We have your concern in mind, but we have a special way of mounting them. More details to come.

Thanks for your concern.

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

I wouldn't be so quick to say that. It appears to be the kit frame, which has rails about 1" off the ground, meaning they can attach the bumpers there and have them supported across the entire length.

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

Unless those tubes at the top extend beyond the base.

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

But the side rails of the frame are not on the BUMPER PERIMETER. That makes it tough to comply with

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

The frame is similar to the kit frame, however we will be making the pieces ourself for a custom fit.

I still don't see why everyone is so concerned about our bumpers. I guess once we get the design done i will be posting another pic. :]

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

2 reasons.

1> We like the design and want to see it succeed.
2> You "strongly encouraged" feedback :D

Good luck.

BTW, whats your ball capacity?

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

Ahh, missed the overhanging parts before. Yes the overhanging back rail needs to be cut off before you will be able to comply with the bumper rules

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

haha well I guess that's true. And I that k you all for your input. we were just curious about what part of the bumper rule that u thought we were going to break. also those pipes are at the maximum 5 feet.

and the ball capacity is about 8 (with our CAD calculations that is...). More specs about how long it takes for a ball to enter than exit.

THANKS AGAIN!

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

In lieu of an orthgraphic to determine what is inside and what is outside of the bumper perimeter, I will assume that the bumper perimeter is formed by the four outer corners of the frame (the low part that the axles mount to) and that the entire robot fits within a vertical projection of this perimeter.

The rule violation as I see it from this drawing is a relatively minor one. The c-channel at the front and back extends beyond the outside rail. This means that you would either need to run a structural member to support the bumpers from one overhanging end of c-channel to another... or simply cut off the parts of the C-channel that go beyond the corner.

My guess is that you are planning to do this in real life, but it just hasn't shown up on the CAD drawings yet.

As far as other feedback goes, do you have a mechanism set up so that when you suck balls in that you don't end up with spaces between them as they climb the tower? If you are lifting them with just one belt have you considered that they will slow as they round the corner at the top end?

Jason

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

Thanks for that clarification. We will look into this. The funny thing is that we are doing our custom C-Channel, but yet we kept the same problem we had with the KOP base. I will talk with the person that was in charge of the C-Channel.

As far as the mechanism for the tower, yes it does allow to carry multiple balls up.

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

Dude it looks killer. I see it being rather productive

only thing i dont like is the electronics setup location ( im a neat freak)

But i like it

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Thanks!

the electronics are kind of tempary on there. we are also going to have a layer of lexan over the electronics to protect them of course.

(:

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Ok much more happier :D then i see no potential issues, looks really top notch
I have to get technical though (Lexan is a brand of poly-carbonate, poly-carbonate is the material) sorry just a thing i like to inform people on.

good luck the rest of build season

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

Cool bot, Pro.E right. Hope to see you guys at LA and UC DAVIS.We might even party up this year, who knows?

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Thanks. and yeah Pro/E.

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cool robot, we also hope to see you in davis and long beach:cool:

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one thing i noticed is your electronics are out in the open could be a problem

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I noted earlier that they would be enclosed by lexan. no worries. ;)

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I love it :D

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Heres a dumb question... will you have anything preventing the balls from going over the edge at the top until you want them to? like would you be able to collect your max capacity of 8 or so balls without dropping the top ones, then dump them all into a trailer? If you're able to do that, it may prove to be a very good strategy! good luck!

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yes we do. (:

we have a gathering mechanism, lift mechanism, and feeding mechanism that arnt pictured. ;)

hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to show that to you guys. :D

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

How will you hold balls until your next to a trailer?

Re: pic: DOC V: THE RING OF FIRE
 

we have a mechanism that isn't pictured there.

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wow thats really BEASTY!!!

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So the balls are pulled out by gravity? Conveyer to get it up there?

In this design, having any kind of launcher at the end of the bot is redundant since the pipes direct it at such a low angle.

Only problem is distance. Even at a height of 5 feet, you may be able to get a ball at max 3 - 5 feet. There is also the penalty of getting hooked onto your opponets trailer. I dont know if that was part of your stratgey but you defintately need to cut the pipes back in order to ensure that you will not get a penalty by accidentally hooking onto a trailer.

*I made spelling mistakes, I know*

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it also said that some of the stuff isnt listed :)

good luck with that design guys

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Dude im an inventor guru and even this makes me jealous. :p

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So let me get this straight: Each of those tubes will spew ignited propane at the opponent, melting them to regolith so you can score on them?

What? That's not what "Ring of Fire" means?:o

Oh.

Actually, I like the design, and the CAD skills are excellent. I wonder if the wheelbase is too short, in that it might affect stability in a collision by causing the robot to tip over forwards or backwards. That can be managed in other ways, but it gets tricky. Also, using the bumpers as part of the frame's structure is a good idea, especially if you use high-grade material (not regular sheathing grade). Our chassis has a roughly similar shape, and we had some problems with flexing (try lifting a front corent); be prepared to address this as well.

Very nice!

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Are you making sure the cRIO case is electrically insulated from the chassis? It looks like you might be mounting it on metal.

That said, this is some beautiful CAD work and an interesting design. I hope it works well for you.

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Are you planning on doing traction control with that wheel in the back?

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We have a mechanism at the top helping the balls out.
;)

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The back wheel is raised up off the floor about 0.2" keeping our robot from tipping backwards.

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Is that a compressor I see in the back right corner?

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yes it is... but we have since gone away with pneumatics.
[:

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Yeah, I can see that. I'm also assuming that the device to help pull the balls out also pulls the balls up to the top of the robot. But that still means that you don't have that much range. So I'm guessing that your plan is to "corner" an opponet's trailer and dump as many balls as possible into the trailer. That means that whatever encourages the balls to leave ur bot must have the ability to get a lot of them out in a very short period of time. Which also means that whatever system that you are using to get the balls up to the top of the bot must be able to get them up at a very quick pace (cim with 4:1?).

But thats just guesses.

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There are 3 mechanisms:
1 sucking the balls in
1 pulling the balls up
1 pushing the balls out