How do we launch this thing? 2014

[bEdhEd]

Team 701 plans to use a spring loaded linear slider system that gets pulled back by a winch to reset, and when a pass or toss is necessary, we disengage the winch pneumatically, and the energy stored in the spring tosses the ball. We proved this concept today with a slingshot type prototype that uses surgical tubing instead of a spring to store energy. We used an old custom winch and our 2013 robot to power it, and the ball was lifted more than five feet in our trials. Our next prototype will involve an actual spring, and we plan our springs to be tough enough that they can launch the ball a good height and distance, with only needing to compress the springs a mere few inches, and probably no more than six inches. We hope that this should save space and weight on our robot