Quote:
Originally Posted by M. Krass
We found that the racquetballs, though giving a larger range of motion in a suspension, cannot withstand the torment of being on FIRST machine. After only about fours hours of run time, they've begun to tear and crack and will need to replaced.
The tennis balls, on the other hand, are holding up quite well. They're a bit tougher to compress, but our chassis is still lighter than a completed robot.
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How are you attaching the tennis balls to the frame?
Last year my team used a tennis ball for a universal joint for the shooter (worked great and was cheap). We drilled 3 holes around the ball, which allowed it to bend more. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. A little wear was evident by the fall, but that was after many, many rotations at 2000 RPM. Don't know if it would work with this, because the forces are in another direction, but you may want to try holes in the top, bottom, or sides of the tennis ball.
Also how much vertical motion do you think is required?
Currently, I have been CADing a different type of suspension, which I will hopefully post soon. My main difficulty is a material for the suspension and the distance a suspension would need to be able to move.
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied!!
edit: I uploaded a
picture of our 2006 robot. If you zoom in you can see 1 of 3 holes in the tennis ball - it seemed to work well.