Who Has a Bridge-Balancing Mechanism?

[jblay]

We had one at CT and used it quite a bit for the coop bridge as well as to triple balance in the eliminations. Can't wait to use it again at St. Louis with, weight permitting, a slight improvment.

[Brandon_L]

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

Does the software brake work once power is cut?

Does it have to? I thought breaks would be used for fine tuning the balancing. Once your balanced your balanced, theres no need (or at least shouldn't be..) for a break to stay balanced. Just like with the stingers. One your balanced, their useless. But they help for a speedy balance

[Wayne TenBrink]

1918 has a servo actuated, spring loaded, kickstand that folds down from the bridge tipper, and then is powered as part of that assembly. We used it for our triple at Troy. The brigde balancer add-on weighs less than 1 lb.

[Nikkocharger]

2224 does... well kinda we just drop down and retract them to shift the robot's center of gravity

[Captaindan]

finals quick mod for easy triple balance 1" pvc on the center robot that flips down after the start of the match and the other two robots have 2" pvc on their bots they all connect and whala the first robot in the train tips the bridge and they balance no robots tip and no fancy engineering a cheap easy mod

[Marc S.]

1662, 973, 254, and 1323 from CVR had stingers. However only 1662 successfully used theirs in a triple balance. 1323 used their 4-bar stinger during a few qualification matches.

[klutzygirl16]

Team 179's mechanism has several prposes. when it hangs off the end it is pretty effective but it balances by such a little marging its hard to judge. Its also dangerous for partner robots as only very heavy robots or 2 othere robots can balance and they must balance very far off the other end. Their robots biggest use is lowering the bridge for others and being used as a ramp.
Its really cool to watch though, and always makes the end of a match more exciting

[AllenGregoryIV]

3847 got our jacks working on Saturday at Lone Star, never got a chance to use them though, but we should be good for St. Louis.

[O'Sancheski]

Originally Posted by Brandon_L

Does it have to? I thought breaks would be used for fine tuning the balancing. Once your balanced your balanced, theres no need (or at least shouldn't be..) for a break to stay balanced. Just like with the stingers. One your balanced, their useless. But they help for a speedy balance

Yes it does. Because once the power is cut, everything shuts down, leaving the wheels to roll freely which may "unbalance" the bridge. This happened at the MSC with a triple.

[Lil' Lavery]

While I won't go as far as saying that Miss Daisy's "stinger" is as effective a bridge balancing mechanism as 67's arm, the 341/25/1640 alliance was triple balancing just as quickly as any of 67's alliances.

[Joe J.]

862 added a pneumatic cylinder that we used to triple balance in the MSC Quarterfinals

[Team Leader]

Here is a video of our team in competition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjo4p...ure=plpp_video

[CyberEagle9416]

Originally Posted by Nathan Streeter

When I say a "Bridge-Balancing Mechanism," I mean one that could be used by a robot on a bridge to help an alliance balance. Essentially, I'm thinking of mechanisms similar to 33's "Stinger," 67's Multi-Function Arm, or 148's within-the-frame-perimeter leg.

These bridge-balancing mechanisms help teams balance the bridge, particularly with the difficult triple balances. I was hoping this thread could compile a list of all the teams that have one.... I'll start it off with the ones that I've seen videos of or heard of:

- 33's "Stinger," a four-bar linkage appendage
- 67's innovative and highly-versatile arm
- 148's "Peg Leg," which linearly pushes down within the frame perimeter
- 469's "Peg Leg," which I've only heard about
- 1986's "Teeter-Totter Talons"
...


Also relevant are special features designed to make balancing (particularly triples) easier by methods other than actuating the bridge into a balanced position. How successful have these each been?

- 179's innovative under-the-bridge hanger (Has this been used in competition? Was it ruled illegal with 118's side-hanger?)
- 701's Roof Platform, which allows a team to park on top of their robot (from video, this seemed difficult to execute)
- 1501's Ramp/Lap Platform, enabling a team to drive onto their robot, creating a bit more space on the bridge (has completed a triple)
- 2054's similar Ramp/Lap Platform (hasn't completed a triple, I believe)
...

There was a robot that used a long piston to balance on the bridge. on triple balances, the last robot seems like it is about to fall off the bridge when it is about to balance. What if you use a long piston that touches the ground while the robot is on the bridge? that will prevent the last robot from tipping over, if it extends the piston while the bridge is balancing. after being balanced, it can retract the piston.