Re: Air Defense System
 

Not that I know of because as I said, no teams attempted it in competition. There was a similar thread on Delphi back then, but for most it never made it past the concept stage, and the teams who prototyped it found it wasn't working as well as they wanted.

Remember, the balls are going to be traveling at a relatively fast rate of speed. In order to change their momentum, it will take a lot of work. If you think of physics W = f * d, you'll need a considerable force (f) for such a short distance (d) window. If anyone wants to pursue this, most certainly don't let me stop you. However I would suggest that no one put all their eggs in this basket, as it may not work out as well as you'd hope. Good luck!

Re: Air Defense System
 

pneumatic cannon, i think fans are illegal under Robot 4.1.8 Motors and Actuators,
or maybe a vacuum, that is exempt

Re: Air Defense System
 

Thanks! We'll keep that in mind, after posting reading these responses I'm having doubts about its effectiveness but we'll still try it on the side

Re: Air Defense System
 

If you switch out the motors on a vacuum or fan you could use it.

Re: Air Defense System
 

We are allowed 22 motors this year...

Re: Air Defense System
 

Indeed we are. I guess i don't see your point? :confused:

Re: Air Defense System
 

I think blayde is trying to insinuate you can throw multiple motors at a hypothetical vacuum/fan solution.

At the same time, I'd say the free speeds of many of those motors would make them unsuitable for the task (consider the copious amounts of window motors in the mix).

Re: Air Defense System
 

This seems very difficult with the tiny air compressor and limited battery life. I fly lots of quad copters and even the huge amount of wind a 10" prop at significant RPM puts out with a brushless motor wouldn't make a huge impact on the ball at 3'

-Mike

Re: Air Defense System
 

Fans are not illegal, please quote where you thing they are.

A pneumatic cannon would be difficult with the small valves we use.

Re: Air Defense System
 

I do not see anything in the rules that would directly prohibit a team putting a swamp-boat esque shrouded fan powered by a cim on the top of their robot pointing directly up (or at an angle maybe 20 degrees from vertical). A 20" diameter fan powered by 2 cims would be.... scary. Possibly effective, but i'd have to see a prototype. As a hunch though, i'd say it'd be very effective at blocking the middle tier goals, but probably ineffective at changing the path of balls aimed at the top tier goals (unless you're right in front of the robot lobbing for the top rung and can impact the balls motion right as it leaves the robot)

Re: Air Defense System
 

You don't want it to point up, you want it to point slightly to one side. Pushing the ball up may not cause a miss (it just falls into the basket from a higher point). Pushing the ball to the side will disrupt the intended trajectory in both azimuth and elevation, and make it more likely to miss.

Re: Air Defense System
 

Pointing it up could actually assist the ball into the hoop if you're unlucky

Re: Air Defense System
 

So instead of air, uses balls as SAM's (Surface to Air Missile).

Re: Air Defense System
 

If you can hit a ball with another ball, you should:
a. work for NASA and:
b. use your impressive engineering and programming skills to make a killer offensive robot instead of a defensive one.

Re: Air Defense System
 

Also, pushing the balls up may likely push them out of the court, incurring a foul under <G13>.

This makes any uber-fan idea flawed, IMO.