Elevator/Telescopic Arms & Motors to Use

[pwnageNick]

PWNAGE 2451 built a telescoping arm for Logomotion in 2011. The link below is the album of our 2011 build season. A lot of good pictures of CAD and the actual robot, especially the arm.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...27910&type= 3

For the wiring throughout the arm we used ribbon cable through the main tubing parts. The ribbon cable was attached to the plastic chain they supply in the KoP that is meant for securing wire to. It keeps things very neat.

I know many teams have also used coiled wire on elevators. I however do not have experience using those.

As far as whether an elevator or telescoping arm is better, it really depends. In 2007, a telescoping arm seemed to be more effective because it helped to have more reach outside the robot frame. In 2011 however, the elevators were more effective because it was easier to control the height and placement of the tubes and a large reach out of the frame wasn't as necessary.


Hope that helps,
-Nick

[Camren]

In 2011 our mentor had an idea that didn't quite make it to the final design. It was to use the telescoping pole that diesel drivers use to clean there stacks and rig. Im pretty sure you can pick one up at your nearest diesel dealership.

[Phyrxes]

Pneumatic tubing can be purchased that is already coiled or you train it around a large diameter pipe (sewer pipe works for this) with a bit of work. I've even seen teams just create a bundle, occasionally wrapping it in some sort of protective material no slip mat seems popular, and using rubber bands or other elastic material to attach it at several points.

The plastic chain from the KOP is provided by Igus and is called "energy chain."

[MARS_James]

To answer your question about stopping it from over extending we used a string potentiometer. It is easy to program and our oldest use of one was 2005 and it still works