plunger gripper and spear

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Charlie,
The only vacuum you can use on the robot is one produced by a pnuematic cylinder. There is not a lot of volume in one of those so it makes it difficult to achieve with evacuating the volume of a plunger. Everyone should keep in mind that the balls are not going to be cleaned after every match or weekend. They will pick up dirt and other foreign objects from the playing field and the surface will become damaged (scratched) with time.

[ZACH P.]

Good point there concerning the dirt. We inflated our ball in our school's gym, and by the time we got it upstairs from rolling or bouncing, the thing was covered with dirt, and would not have stuck to a suction cup. Add in fibers from the carpeting, and that makes for some messed up surfaces for suction, I wouldn't bet on it working properly.