Team 2363 ball gathering and lifter prototype

[ToddF]

For your viewing pleasure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c8x8...afet y_mode=1

[Tazlikesrobots]

Very nice!

[JosephC]

Very nice! If only we had made it first

[pilum40]

What motors are you planning to use to power this beastie? We're maxed out on CIMS for our chassis. Just curious....this looks like a winner design!!

[GilaMonsterAlex]

Very cool! That's very similar to what we've brainstormed, but I like this much better. What is the tension like on the cord?

[gmendel]

Brodacious brodea, brotel browanda.

[chmconkling]

Its identical to ours but what made yall use 4 motors were using 1-2?

[Redo91]

I imagine they were using the 4 separate drills just for the prototype.

Does the wedge-top tread on the lower rollers pickup the ball, or is it the fingers on the higher rollers?

[JohnSchneider]

I imagine they both do, but if they had fingers on all 4 sides of the tower they would collide. The high traction wheels are lower so they can congress the ball while the "finger" rollers are higher so they pull it in.

[3v3rnoob]

I like how all of the balls fall off in the same direction and it's consistent. Good idea having one of the rollers lower than the other to that end. However, it looks like you may have some tension issues; at one point in the video a ball falls out of the tower. I say this because you are using drills in the video instead of allowed motors, and you may find yourself getting a lot more power from the drills than the motors you may intend to afford.

Ultimately, my question is this: which motors are you thinking of using, and how much are you willing to sacrifice speed for power for the sake of consistency? I like that it is fast now, but now much of that speed are you willing to and expecting to sacrifice?

[Alex.q]

Am I correct in asserting you will be trying to collect balls on both sides of your chassis?

[Borobo]

so I actually have a question as to the legality of such a design. does anyone know whether the yellow polycord whips will be counted as seperate appendages toward the limit of 1 14 inch appendage. I had been supporting a similar (but 1 sided) grabber with surgical tubing whips, but I don't know if it can be done, since we already have another appendage planned to lower the bridge for passage.

[JesseK]

Play with the heights of the intake rollers. Realize that the robot will be driving around while the balls are coming in, so you don't necessarily need a full 8" clearance between the rollers and the ground. You may be able to get rid of the spinning tubes if you do.

We're looking forward to VCU again!

[Siri]

Originally Posted by Borobo

so I actually have a question as to the legality of such a design. does anyone know whether the yellow polycord whips will be counted as seperate appendages toward the limit of 1 14 inch appendage. I had been supporting a similar (but 1 sided) grabber with surgical tubing whips, but I don't know if it can be done, since we already have another appendage planned to lower the bridge for passage.

According to the Q&A:
- "There is no formal definition of appendage; however, a colloquial definition is "a subordinate part attached to something; an auxiliary part; addition" (courtesy of dictionary.com). To elaborate, an appendage is a contiguous assembly that may extend beyond the Frame Perimeter per Rule [G21]."
- "Only one appendage may extend beyond the Frame Perimeter. There are no rules prohibiting appendages that fork once outside the Frame Perimeter."

Interpret and ask further questions as you will. As a possible starting point, I'd interpret that if the frame perimeter splits the bar rather than the tubes, it's a single appendage that splits outside the frame perimeter. Of course, it also counts as your single appendage outside the frame perimeter at a time. Of course, you could also keep the whole thing inside the frame perimeter, or somehow stagger the tubes (though remember the rule applies while in motion, not just static). There may well be other solutions as well.

[ToddF]

Some quick answers. The mentor heading the ball pickup sub-team could probably provide better ones.

- The drill motors were just proof of concept. Motor selection will probably happen this week.
- We plan to pickup on both long sides of the robot.
- The fingers on the finger rollers do not extend past the frame perimeter, so no worries about definition of appendages.
- With the heights shown, the opposing finger rollers lift the ball off the floor and present it to the vertical conveyor.