DART linear actuator alternatives?

[Retired Starman]

Originally Posted by iggy_gim

I was also wondering about an alternative top DARTs. Unfortunately, I called Andymark today to check up on the status of the 12" actuators, and they told me that they would not be in stock until after build season

Do you know about these?

https://www.firgelliauto.com/product...y-rod-actuator

Are they legal? I cannot find anything in the rules that prohibit them. Anyway, thanks for the help especially since we are kind of relying on linear actuators for our design.

Unless the linear actuator has a LEGAL MOTOR installed, it cannot legally be used on your robot. You may install a LEGAL MOTOR on any gearbox, including linear actuators, but you can't in general, use an off-the-shelf linear actuator complete with the factory-installed motor. I've never seen one come with a FIRST approved motor.

It broke my heart to have to tell a team they couldn't use their linear actuators while I was inspecting them last year. They tried to install legal motors during the competition, but never found a motor combination that could be installed and was powerful enough to run their stacking mechanism.

I was thrilled to see AndyMark sell a linear actuator that could take a legal motor, only to see my hopes for such a product dashed by AndyMark's inability meet the demand.