Thread: Scissor Lifter?
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Unread 09-01-2015, 13:46
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JamesCH95 JamesCH95 is offline
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FRC #0095 (The Grasshoppers)
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Re: Scissor Lifter?

I am quite frustrated by the "we'll never do X because we tried it once and it didn't work" attitude. I find it very narrow-minded and a bad precedent for our students. Technology, collective experience, and requirements all change, and we should be willing to reconsider past decisions and be able to admit to ourselves that we could have done something better.

95's name-sake robot, Grace Hopper, used a scissor lift with great success. The compact storage profile of the lift allowed the robot to be completely mobile on the field and still reliably, and quickly, score in the high goals. Also, Grace's scissor lift was fabricated with a lathe, drill press, and belt sander. Precision machining equipment is not required.



Here is an old match video to show what the field was like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCcBXMrR8DY

Scissor lifts have a very specific application: they allow a mechanism to reach very far while being stored in a very small space. With the lack of height-restricting obstacles and lack of size constraints this year I don't think a scissor lift is appropriate. But I would consider it in the future.
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