Team 1902 Roller Grabber Teaser

[Andrew Remmers]

Hey guys!

Our new video of our roller gripper is up! Enjoy!

Andrew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hF-W...&feature=feedu

[Brandon Holley]

Very impressive guys. You are definitely going to have a fast acquisition/release.

-Brando

[JesseK]

Can it still pick up a tube if the tube is right up against your front bumper?

[Cyberphil]

Very interesting! I am impressed!

Are you going to keep that speed? (I assume so). If so, do you have some kind of clutch system to prevent the cims from stalling, or a sensor on the back of the arm? Or nothing at all.

[Dan Richardson]

Originally Posted by Cyberphil

Very interesting! I am impressed!

Are you going to keep that speed? (I assume so). If so, do you have some kind of clutch system to prevent the cims from stalling, or a sensor on the back of the arm? Or nothing at all.

We are thinking of dropping the speed, but only slightly, using Banebots in place of the Cims as the Cims are probably overpowered for this application. The cims were all we had to prototype with. A "gripped" tube will be detected by a limit switch on the back of gripper. We are debating the need for an encoder to sense the rotation and control the speed.

The tube is captured by not allowing the wheels to back drive, if you watch closely when the tubes are released the wheels are driven backwards. We'll make sure to have the controls in place to keep that from happening.

The cool thing about the roller gripper is that it can allow for "easy" tube manipulation ala 233 in 2007. We found that this can be difficult on the points of the square and triangle but every semi circular cross section is mostly adjustable.

Adam, the tools in the video are at a mentors house, who was assisting in the fabrication of the gripper.

And of course this mentors house does come fully equipped with a chop saw.

[Cyberphil]

Excellent! Looks great guys! Hopefully you make it to Einstein this year too!

Good Luck, and see you in Florida!

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Stud Man Dan

fully equipped with a chop saw.

I'm an avid believer that no shop is fully equipped unless it has a chop saw.

Also, can any of you guys expand on the Modulox system? I've been trying to find info on it, but it doesn't seem like there is much. Is it just a "universal" gearbox of sorts?

[artdutra04]

Looks like an awesome prototype!

Originally Posted by thefro526

I'm an avid believer that no shop is fully equipped unless it has a chop saw.

Horizontal band saw > chop saw.

[Dan Richardson]

Originally Posted by thefro526

I'm an avid believer that no shop is fully equipped unless it has a chop saw.

Also, can any of you guys expand on the Modulox system? I've been trying to find info on it, but it doesn't seem like there is much. Is it just a "universal" gearbox of sorts?

The Modulox system is a modular gearbox that utilizes keyed bearing blocks in machined slots to construct nearly limitless gearbox outputs, gear ratios, and arrangements. It uses standard sizes and hex bore gears (both .375" and .500") to make it easy to configure only requiring a set of Allen Keys. Their is a walk through at the top of Modulox.com website that describes how the system works. And the kits are being sold by AndyMark.com here:

We used it on our gripper for two purposes, to adjust the height of the rollers so we could dial in the perfect distance for the tubes as well as to adjust the gear ratios up and down a bit. It made the prototyping process quite easy.

/edit Oh and Art, you speak blasphemous words sir. Red dots coming your way.

[Aren_Hill]

We were just actually rearranging the MechE department machine shop at Iowa State.

The chop saw got stuck under a bench out of the way as everyone went straight for the horizontal bandsaw...

[Chris is me]

How hard does it actually grip the tube?

[The Lucas]

Nice. It looks like your new build space has all the machines you need to produce a good quick prototype. It is scary to think you are improving upon an '07 design that got you to Einstein.

[Cyberphil]

Originally Posted by The Lucas

Nice. It looks like your new build space has all the machines you need to produce a good quick prototype. It is scary to think you are improving upon an '07 design that got you to Einstein.

Good point. I almost forgot they made it to Einstein! And now that I think about it, your right, same concept.

[Andrew Remmers]

Originally Posted by The Lucas

Nice. It looks like your new build space has all the machines you need to produce a good quick prototype. It is scary to think you are improving upon an '07 design that got you to Einstein.

Very interesting! I am impressed!

Are you going to keep that speed? (I assume so). If so, do you have some kind of clutch system to prevent the cims from stalling, or a sensor on the back of the arm? Or nothing at all

(didnt know how to do double quotes...)

- The Lucas. Our build space is actually at Lockheed Martin this year, they were generous enough to give us a space to build, along with many other things this year, They are our biggest sponsor!

-Cyberphil

We are modifying the roller a bit to spin at slower speeds since right now it runs at about 2500 RPM (we only has CIMs and moduloxes to prototype with)
we plan on running it with the 775 motors which will also will have custom mounting brackets for our modulox systems!

[bam-bam]

Are you guys going to have something to hold the tube in place after the roller stop?

I assuming that the tube will stay in place once you guys slow the speed down, though.