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Unread 02-03-2011, 12:32
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Re: Best Lift Design for Logomotion?

What makes a lift system work well?

1. Robustness Some of the arms I have seen have a lot of lateral sway in them as the robot turns. Some elevators have weak attachments to the drive base. Both can be well built. If a robot is doing ground pick-up in traffic it will at some point have a manipulator outside of its frame where it can be hit. I would think the longer arms would sustain greater damage. (They also might be easier to repair and get back on the field though.)

2. Speed Arms and elevators seem equally fast to me. Arms may handle sudden changes in direction more poorly, especially if the gripper has significant mass at the end of the long swing arc.

3. Precision If done manually it is eaier for a driver to adjust the height of an elevator to find the peg than an arm. The movement arc is one dimensional instead of two. With driver practice, or software these issues can be mitigated.

4. Center of Gravity The weight stays more inside of the drive wheel in an elevator than it does for an arm. The s-forbes style arm is a nice way to avoid that problem.

I think elevators are better suited for this game, but not by much. Well built arms will beat poorly built elevators every time. The biggest difference will probably be in drive bases. The ability to get through defensive pressure and put the arm/elevator in a position to do its thing will be more important than the lifting system in general.

Just one man's opinion.
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