any success with winches?

[Jay TenBrink]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

My recommendation would be to use a ratchet and pawl. These parts are easily available from many gear companies including Berg(http://www.wmberg.com/catalog/catres... oup=RATCHETS), or if you're on a really tight budget you can probably get creative with a band saw and a grinder. I would be very hesitant to rely on a mere servo to disengage the pawl. However, something like a pneumatic with a very short throw would be suitable.

I would agree that it would not be practical to disengage a pawl that was under load using just the force available in the servo. A servo could work if you take the load off of the pawl first.

Since our winch will also be used to extend and retract the ball handling device, a one time/one way ratcheting winch would be a problem. If the winch is used for lifting the robot only, a spring loaded ratchet would be fine.