off-season launcher

If you're looking to build a t-shirt launcher, then why do what everybody else is doing and make a pneumatic canon? Our team decided to try a different strategy, that was both cost effective, crowd-pleasing, and a far shooter! Say hello to the t-shirt SLINGSHOT! Just get some surgical tubing, a long robot, and....BAM! A self-firing, enjoyable, and can shoot more than t-shirts robot! We made ours out of things we found in our robotics room.

Below is the original version (we've been working on it)!

[Da Kid]

i agree that a catastrophic explosion would be bad but we plan to put the three barrels inside of a large diameter piece of PVC so even if something does explode it will be contained.

again if someone could chime in on tank sizes(main and secondary) that would be very helpful.

and after looking around i found most of the valves are 24 volt ones. our team isn't the richest(we hope more people will sponsor us one they see this robot) is there a place to get cheap 12 to 24 volt converters. i've looked around and it seems most are around $50 that i've seen.

[114Klutz]

Originally Posted by Da Kid

i agree that a catastrophic explosion would be bad but we plan to put the three barrels inside of a large diameter piece of PVC so even if something does explode it will be contained.

again if someone could chime in on tank sizes(main and secondary) that would be very helpful.

and after looking around i found most of the valves are 24 volt ones. our team isn't the richest(we hope more people will sponsor us one they see this robot) is there a place to get cheap 12 to 24 volt converters. i've looked around and it seems most are around $50 that i've seen.

This is an off season project - why not just run 2 batteries in series? The minibot batteries are 12v each.

[OSU_Springer]

Originally Posted by 114Klutz

This is an off season project - why not just run 2 batteries in series? The minibot batteries are 12v each.

Excellent idea. I would caution that care must be taken here to not then wire the subsequent 24 VDC potential into the PD board. I'm sure that the transformer(s) there would not like the new voltage, nor would the downstream components.

To be safe, I would search places like allied electronics and newark for a 2-turn transformer. This would give you your voltage conversion from 12 VDC to 24 VDC. Just make sure that the transformer is rated for the right power (watts) or amperage, depending on how the spec is written.

[Da Kid]

Originally Posted by 114Klutz

This is an off season project - why not just run 2 batteries in series? The minibot batteries are 12v each.

i've searched around and found out that an AC sprinkler valve on a DC circuit can be run on lower voltage since DC isn't as affected by either a resistance or an inductor and thus has more current. 12 volts should be fine.