2014 robot modification

[Tungrus]

Originally Posted by Mschmeh144

howdy

as of today, now that our build season is over, we are getting to the old bots, and finally repairing them.
That said, our old bot, atlas, used tubing to provide the power to fire the ball. We had 9 1/2in sections, 4 in total, all of them shredded and broke. And they keep doing it, so we're looking for a alternative. We need something that's durable, but not as powerful. We use a winch to draw the launching piston ( non pnumatic ) back, and let the winch spool out to let it go. We must keep the winch system to draw the piston back, but we need other options to replace the tubing. Any ideas ? If it can be easily implemented, that would be preferable, but any other idea is welcome.

Springs will last longer as long as they are not exposed to water/moisture.

[GeeTwo]

The problem is probably the age of the tubing (or more specifically, how long it has been exposed to air). In my experience, latex gloves (and presumably tubing) become brittle over time when exposed. I'm not sure if it's due to outgassing, a slow burn, or a combination of effects. If it was working last year at competition, replacing with the same product should give you several months of functionality.