Quote:
Originally Posted by HFCHS-NASA
Our team was thinking of using a plunger system to launch balls...
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After some brainstorming, I think this is a solid approach. I was thinking that the plunger end would be cupped, holds the ball and not require contact cylinder walls.
Most of the launch systems I've seen use apposed spinning disks like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8U9u2iqMEs While this works, I think getting good accuracy will be technically challenging. Note the "slice" behavior (Magnus effect) of the ball in some of the shots. Variable control of launch velocity and symmetric launching will be much more technically challenging than simply pushing the ball in a straight line. The pro/cons for plunger are:
PROS:
- Inherently shoots straight
- Simple mechanism for guiding the plunger
- Velocity control simplified by displacement based adjustment of spring loading
CONS:
- Ball load mechanism is more complex
- Cocking (spring pre-load) and trigger mechanism more complex
- Cycle time for each ball much greater than disk design
Given how short each tournament is and the game design, I think that shooting from midcourt with a high shot percentage will be key to high scoring.