Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

So, how well do you guys pass tubes?

It looks like between the traction drive train and the fast gripper, you guys can serve not only as scorer but as tube relay.

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

I look forward to seeing this one in person in DC!

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

this is a hoax...it can't be a wpi robot since it's working before ship date....


:yikes:

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

This is the real deal, no hoaxes here! It is a rare occurence that the robot is at this level of completion by ship, but it would not be the first time. 2007 and 2009 come to mind...;)

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

When I see robots like this I just have to ask the question....

why....

why.........

why would you NOT build a roller claw????


Admit it, claws have no advantage over roller claws. none.

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

Depends on if someone hits you from the side and it slides out. This is one of the most effective roller claw designs I have seen this season! Offsetting the top from the bottom is really effective! Good job 190!

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

Weight, grip strength, simplicity... Many reasons to go pinch right there. Rollers are great, but with non spherical game pieces that slide well, pinch works.

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

This claw weighs 7lbs, including the two BB550 motors with gearboxes.

The claw is designed such that it wraps around the inside of the tube, reducing the concerns of a tube being able to be hit from the side and fall out. It is also passively compliant, in order to allow for all three tubes' shapes and sizes, including partially deflated tubes. This compliance allows for constant positive pressure on the tubes to insure a good grasp.

Additionally, we are able to pick up any tube in any orientation, at any angle. This includes spinning the robot and hitting the tube from the side, or only engaging the side of the tube with none of the claw in the center of the tube.

Each of our subsystems have small unique characteristics. In typical 190 style we cannot let all things go simply conventional.

We have very much enjoyed designing and building this robot, and are looking forward to the competitions! (And to showing off our minibot and deployment systems!)

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

Very impressive robot no doubt! My only question (and maybe i missed it in the video) is does it reach the top row? Great roller claw, wish our team had done something like that but our simple claw works perfectly fine and only lets us down on a few ocasions.

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

You didn't miss it (there is a picture in the very beginning, but it flashes by quickly). It can reach the top row, unfortunately the practice area in the hallway has too low of a ceiling for us to do that, and we didn't have the elevator running at the scrimmage. It takes approximately 1.5 seconds for the elevator to run from ground to the top row scoring height.

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

Nice music choice, Love the Jurassic Park clips. Looks like an all around great robot. Love the lift design, it is strikingly similar :)

Hope to see you guys again at World Champs, tell everyone hello from the Skunks!

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

I'm just kidding with you guys...I'm a WPI alum and know the O'Rourke's and Ken, Brad and everyone real well, so I was just picking a little bit. WPI's normal motto is the robot will be finished by the last off-season event!

I'll be coming down to DC to visit and check it out in person! Good luck

-Sarah

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

Eh, you may want to qualify this claim.

• I don't think any of the roller claws I've seen have weighed 2.5 lbs like our simple claw does (due to motor/gearing).
• I don't think any of the roller claws I've seen cost as little as our roller claw did to fabricate (assuming free labor) -- $30 raw, $12 actual used parts (+ 1 free Bimba cyllinder & 1 KOP solenoid valve).
• Roller claws take much more to fabricate and maintain as well.
• Ours is designed to have a similar amount of room for driver error that a skinny roller claw does.
• If it gets ripped off, we have another one since 2.5 lbs is easy to fit in the withholding allowance.
• In the worst case where 2 get ripped up, we could build another one in under half an hour.

So if you're naive to always fall for 'THE best' type claims about any one design in FRC, sure roller claws would win for fastest & flashiest I suppose. Yet there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that it doesn't matter on the FRC field (330 in 2007, 217 in 2008) as much as strategy & driver practice does. So to me, holistically, roller claws and pinchy claws (or inverse-pinchy in our case) are pretty much the same for the majority of teams out there (including those who have never heard of CD) -- so long as they grab the tube in a reasonable amount of time with a reasonable room for error, then hold on to the tube, then let it go, it doesn't really matter which design is chosen.

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

Spare parts do not count against the witholding allowance.

Re: Team 190 Promo Video
 

You may want to look again. If the spare parts are fabricated they absolutely do count against the 30lbs as they are not one of the 3 exceptions in R33.