Team 449 ball capture and scoring
 

Well, to much rejoicing, we managed to get our robot in working order the night before ship day despite the setbacks due to inclement weather (curse you, snow gods!). We currently have two short video clips on youtube; one of our basic ball capture + shooting capabilities, and another of us attempting to get maximum range out of our kicker (and of me shouting in fright - the ball looks a lot scarier when headed directly towards you).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmtyIiV9_ys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXXkwTFqswM

Re: Team 449 ball capture and scoring
 

Great distance!

and since you have a vacuum i'll ask something that's been on the mind of my teammates. Does having the vacuum on take away from your distance? or do you simply turn it off before you shoot?

Re: Team 449 ball capture and scoring
 

Our code shuts down the vacuum as our kicker is firing, and then starts it up again once we load the kicker (the kicker foot blocks the vacuum after firing). We even have feedback on if a ball is loaded by monitoring the draw of the motor. The vacuum works amazingly well, considering how simple it is: It's just a mini shop vac impeller on a fisher price attached with a short tube to a tupperware bowl.

Our kicker is powered by four 25 pound steel tension springs. It's on a ratchet assembly, and we use the same motor to load the kicker and release the pawl (CIM on a p80 gearbox). Also, to get a long range we found the shape of the kicker foot is *very* important.

Re: Team 449 ball capture and scoring
 

how'd you get the fisher price motor and the vacuum to work.... what kind of vacuum are you using?