Intake Motors...

[Ether]

Originally Posted by electroken

We're using RS-550 motors on Banebots P60 64:1 planetaries. The wheels are home-grown and 4" in diameter. This setup is working well for us.

How do you prevent the motors from stalling as the intake completes?

[ice.berg]

We have window motors geared up through belt and sprocket about 1:2 with bane bots 4 7/8" wheels on the end.
Seems to be working great so far. No issues with stalling or going to fast/slow

[electroken]

Originally Posted by Ether

How do you prevent the motors from stalling as the intake completes?

A limit switch on a digital input tells the control system when a tote is within its last inch of travel.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by electroken

A limit switch on a digital input tells the control system when a tote is within its last inch of travel.

Do you have a picture of that you could post? So many rookie teams ask for advice how to mount limit switches. It would make a good reference link. Thx.

[electroken]

Originally Posted by Ether

Do you have a picture of that you could post? So many rookie teams ask for advice how to mount limit switches. It would make a good reference link. Thx.

If it wasn't for that big ol' bag on the robot...
Now I have a reason to get that switch onto the practice robot.

Our frame serves as the mechanical stop for the totes, extending the life of the switch to beyond one cycle.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by electroken

Our frame serves as the mechanical stop for the totes, extending the life of the switch to beyond one cycle.

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Ether

How do you prevent the motors from stalling as the intake completes?

Two other techniques we considered for our ball pickup last year are:

1. Make the frictional force low enough that when the game piece is fully in place, the wheel slips. Problems with this method include possibly reduced intake force and rapid wear on your rollers.
2. Monitor the current draw on the motor and cut it off quickly when it spikes. This used to require custom current sensors, which we had purchased from pololu, but now they're built into the power distribution panel.

Last year we used our solution number one, as the balls were compliant and not much force was needed to pull them in; it may not be a good solution this year.