Thread: Never Do This, and Other Good Ideas Gone Bad
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Unread 13-05-2011, 23:30
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AKA: Nathan
FRC #1178 (DURT)
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Rookie Year: 2010
Location: St. Louis
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Re: Never Do This, and Other Good Ideas Gone Bad
On 1178 (D.u.R.T.), we have successes in some areas, and some pure luck in others.

In 2008, we implemented a scissor lift that lifted the ball up to deposit on the rail. Once the drivers got used to it (the whole robot was named Manny), it worked marvelously, although it used pneumatics (several of them) to force the lift up. We still drive the robot around, as it is one of the most visually impressive robots we have.

In 2010, we learned that a powerful pneumatic kicker can and will kick itself to pieces if shoddily crafted. We also learned that bending the frame and wheel brackets made the drive train unusable in some matches.
In 2007, we used the Banebots planetary gearboxes, and they are still working (though we would not use them again if we are able to use AndyMark's or Dewalts)

2011- We decided that we would use meccanums and a continuous lift, both of which we had never prototyped before. Due to the awesomeness of AndyMark components (our whole drivetrain was AndyMark components), the direct drive meccanums worked marvelously. Also, we paid a lot attention to making the lift right and getting it working (the biggest issue was belt tension, and using a window motor direct driven to the belt).
We have also decided that until TI improves the Jags, we are not using them as they present too big of a safety hazard (we have had multiple fail this year while driving, and one caught on fire).

Sorry about the disorganization of this post, it was pretty much all train-of-thought as I procrastinate from homework.
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Note: You cannot tell the difference between "OK Go" and "OK No" when there 2 walls between you and the robot. At that point, the only thing between injury and safety for the mechanical guys is their ninja skills.