Throw or Drop?
 

For this year's game, is your team more interested in a throwing mechanism or a dropping mechanism? In other words, do you plan to throw the ball into the hoop, or drop it and why?

I'm just wondering so I can see what other teams plan to do.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

I see benefits in both, so our jury is still out on that one. Good luck :D

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Well, since its illegal to get directly over the baskets, dropping will be hard.

I bet it could still be pulled off, though.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Dropping has the potential to be more accurate (less variables), but throwing reliably is WAY more versatile. If you can do it well and accurately, try for throwing.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Here's a little I've thought of (not at all exhaustive)
Dropping
Pros:
-Easier to implement for rookie teams
-Score three balls swiftly in a row
Cons:
-Can get pushed
-Can't drop into top row

Shooting
Pros:
-Score from far away
-Can score from "safe zone"
Cons:
-Shooting is less reliable
-Difficult for driver to aim (hard to get the right angle from far away)
-May have to realign for each ball

Note, that with a very strong programming team, the second (and possibly third) con of shooting could be avoidable.

I say, choose the tactic that best suits your team's abilities. If you are unsure about being able to shoot consistently, build a simple dropper, and prototype a shooter. If you finish a good shooter by the end, use that instead, but if you don't, you'll still be able to score.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Curious how one can drop the ball, considering the length of the fender and the 14" extension limit on appendages.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Get as close as possible and up a little higher so you can drop it in by rolling it off a ramp?

(yuck)

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Seems highly difficult to pull off

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

It's impossible for the high goal, but perfectly implementable with the middle goals.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Well you are allowed to cross the plane with one appendage on the robot. You are allowed to cross 14" (inches) like you stated. And you can go a max of like 9 feet high if you were able to tilt whatever you were dropping the balls with, well at an angle and about 2 feet higher the velocity of the balls would take it the extra inches. You could even put a motor at the edge with a roller on each side to give it power at very close range.

Hope this helped. (My First Post)

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

84 inches is seven feet, not nine.

Also, Welcome to CD.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

We're going with shooting, after all as long as you can get a fairly constant exit velocity for the ball, and you know how far from the hoop your robot is it's pretty simple physics to calculate the angle needed to get the ball in the hoop.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Just saying, trying to drop the balls onto the baskets also might hinder other bots trying to shoot or do the same thing. That would be a great limiting factor in scoring.

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

If we were in a vaccuum!

Re: Throw or Drop?
 

Good point, I forgot the baskets also protrude out so the three foot fender is a bit deceptive.