I had the awesome opportunity to work with Subzero Robotics (5690) this weekend on a T-Shirt Launching Robot. Subzero, located out of Esko, Minnesota (near Duluth) is an upcoming team in Minnesota, and incredibly fun to work with.
I CADed the robot on Creo Parametric and created a Bill of Materials which 5690 then ordered. The final robot includes multiple improvements and changes to the CAD model based on what materials were available.
Here is a short
video I threw together that shows the robot in action with a few pictures as well.
Robot Specs:
- 4 cim drive with 4 toughbox micro gearboxes
- WCD using a hex output shaft from the toughbox micro
- Toughbox Micro has a gear ratio of 8.45:1
- The
air tank was purchased from Walmart (believe it or not) and is designed for use on a semi truck
- The barrel has a fairly restricted range of motion from nearly vertical to about 30 degrees for safety reasons
- The system is rated for up to 125 PSI, and includes a vent plug valve set to release air at 110 PSI
- The
Solenoid Valve that is used is a quick release 3/4" NPT valve
- At max pressure, the robot can launch T-shirts around 100 feet and can fire 4 times before needing to refill the air
We built the robot in 2 days with 10 people, and it was a bunch of fun! IF you have any questions or suggestions I'd love to hear them.