Air Defense System

[Tom I]

Originally Posted by gyroscopeRaptor

Are there any videos of teams attempting this from 06?

Not that I know of because as I said, no teams attempted it in competition. There was a similar thread on Delphi back then, but for most it never made it past the concept stage, and the teams who prototyped it found it wasn't working as well as they wanted.

Remember, the balls are going to be traveling at a relatively fast rate of speed. In order to change their momentum, it will take a lot of work. If you think of physics W = f * d, you'll need a considerable force (f) for such a short distance (d) window. If anyone wants to pursue this, most certainly don't let me stop you. However I would suggest that no one put all their eggs in this basket, as it may not work out as well as you'd hope. Good luck!

[Rocketeeringer]

Originally Posted by Chickenonastick

What would you use to generate an updraft?

pneumatic cannon, i think fans are illegal under Robot 4.1.8 Motors and Actuators,
or maybe a vacuum, that is exempt

[Rocketeeringer]

Originally Posted by Tom I

Not that I know of because as I said, no teams attempted it in competition. There was a similar thread on Delphi back then, but for most it never made it past the concept stage, and the teams who prototyped it found it wasn't working as well as they wanted.

Remember, the balls are going to be traveling at a relatively fast rate of speed. In order to change their momentum, it will take a lot of work. If you think of physics W = f * d, you'll need a considerable force (f) for such a short distance (d) window. If anyone wants to pursue this, most certainly don't let me stop you. However I would suggest that no one put all their eggs in this basket, as it may not work out as well as you'd hope. Good luck!

Thanks! We'll keep that in mind, after posting reading these responses I'm having doubts about its effectiveness but we'll still try it on the side

[the man]

If you switch out the motors on a vacuum or fan you could use it.

[blayde5]

We are allowed 22 motors this year...

[Sean Raia]

Originally Posted by blayde5

We are allowed 22 motors this year...

Indeed we are. I guess i don't see your point?

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by blayde5

We are allowed 22 motors this year...

Originally Posted by Sean Raia

Indeed we are. I guess i don't see your point?

I think blayde is trying to insinuate you can throw multiple motors at a hypothetical vacuum/fan solution.

At the same time, I'd say the free speeds of many of those motors would make them unsuitable for the task (consider the copious amounts of window motors in the mix).

[mikegrundvig]

This seems very difficult with the tiny air compressor and limited battery life. I fly lots of quad copters and even the huge amount of wind a 10" prop at significant RPM puts out with a brushless motor wouldn't make a huge impact on the ball at 3'

-Mike

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Rocketeeringer

pneumatic cannon, i think fans are illegal under Robot 4.1.8 Motors and Actuators,
or maybe a vacuum, that is exempt

Fans are not illegal, please quote where you thing they are.

A pneumatic cannon would be difficult with the small valves we use.

[Thermal]

I do not see anything in the rules that would directly prohibit a team putting a swamp-boat esque shrouded fan powered by a cim on the top of their robot pointing directly up (or at an angle maybe 20 degrees from vertical). A 20" diameter fan powered by 2 cims would be.... scary. Possibly effective, but i'd have to see a prototype. As a hunch though, i'd say it'd be very effective at blocking the middle tier goals, but probably ineffective at changing the path of balls aimed at the top tier goals (unless you're right in front of the robot lobbing for the top rung and can impact the balls motion right as it leaves the robot)

[Ninja_Bait]

You don't want it to point up, you want it to point slightly to one side. Pushing the ball up may not cause a miss (it just falls into the basket from a higher point). Pushing the ball to the side will disrupt the intended trajectory in both azimuth and elevation, and make it more likely to miss.

[Rocketeeringer]

Originally Posted by Ninja_Bait

You don't want it to point up, you want it to point slightly to one side. Pushing the ball up may not cause a miss (it just falls into the basket from a higher point). Pushing the ball to the side will disrupt the intended trajectory in both azimuth and elevation, and make it more likely to miss.

Pointing it up could actually assist the ball into the hoop if you're unlucky

[tcjinaz]

So instead of air, uses balls as SAM's (Surface to Air Missile).

[Ninja_Bait]

If you can hit a ball with another ball, you should:
a. work for NASA and:
b. use your impressive engineering and programming skills to make a killer offensive robot instead of a defensive one.

[gyroscopeRaptor]

Also, pushing the balls up may likely push them out of the court, incurring a foul under <G13>.

This makes any uber-fan idea flawed, IMO.