[frcguy]

Originally Posted by KohKohPuffs

I recall talking to 254 about potential climber designs at SVR. They did talk about using two gas springs, which would be retracted and held like that using pancake cylinders. When the pistons were activated, the gas springs would extend, and a winch gearbox would be used to retract the gas springs to pull the robot up. However, looking at their technical binder, it seems they used surgical tubing instead, I guess since it's more cost-efficient than gas springs.

Here is the explanation of why 254 didn't use gas springs if anyone is interested.

Originally Posted by Ashwin Adulla (from 254 Technical Binder thread)

Initially, the idea of utilizing gas shocks as the means to scale the tower after time had ended seemed like a feasible idea in CAD. When it came to assembling them on the hanger however, we encountered the issue of both gas shocks releasing at different times as was evident in a test which consequently bent the hanger weldment. This problem could have either been attributed to a difference in the force exerted by each gas shock or a difference in force exerted by the pistons with a spring coiled around the rod that were used to compress the gas shocks. We knew that a winch gearbox was both a proven and feasible option, and thus we decided to implement it following SVR.