pic: Capping 177

[David Bridge]

Originally Posted by ZACH P.

Hey Evan, you obviously had a reliable ball delivery system for your net. Can you give me some detail on the working of it?

Im not evan, but can answer the question just as well... at the front of the robot we have a knurrled roller thats about 12 inches off the ground, it runs the full width of the robot (about 2.5 balls worth)... The roller is run by a globe motor that has had one set of planetary gears taken out to give us the speed and power that we wanted. The motor is actually anchored inside of the roller so it gives us a direct drive with no loss of power, but at the same time doesnt take up much additional space. In the hopper itself there is a conveyor made of polycord which is run by a geared vandoor motor to keep the balls from jamming... This system results in excellent performance picking up and delivering the balls

[ZACH P.]

Originally Posted by David Bridge

Im not evan, but can answer the question just as well... at the front of the robot we have a knurrled roller thats about 12 inches off the ground, it runs the full width of the robot (about 2.5 balls worth)... The roller is run by a globe motor that has had one set of planetary gears taken out to give us the speed and power that we wanted. The motor is actually anchored inside of the roller so it gives us a direct drive with no loss of power, but at the same time doesnt take up much additional space. In the hopper itself there is a conveyor made of polycord which is run by a geared window motor to keep the balls from jamming... This system results in excellent performance picking up and delivering the balls

Thank you very much for your response. Know I've just got to figure a way to apply a similar system to our robot...

[EvanG]

I don't mean to be the Devil's advocate here, but don't expect to get it right your first time. I will say that 177 has tried several times to do small balls, and it took forever to finally get a system that works. A lot of it is just trying and trying till you get it to work. I'm sure you'll get it eventually.

Also, it's minor, but the polycord conveyer on our bot is actually powered by a van door motor while the basket is currently opened by a geared window motor. This may change and we may be opening the basket with vacuum because its much more forgiving.

[ZACH P.]

Originally Posted by EvanG

I don't mean to be the Devil's advocate here, but don't expect to get it right your first time. I will say that 177 has tried several times to do small balls, and it took forever to finally get a system that works. A lot of it is just trying and trying till you get it to work. I'm sure you'll get it eventually.

Also, it's minor, but the polycord conveyer on our bot is actually powered by a van door motor while the basket is currently opened by a geared window motor. This may change and we may be opening the basket with vacuum because its much more forgiving.

Oh i understand entirely. We have a ball hopper too, and our only proble has always been the delivery of the balls. We played with it all through our regional comp, with limited sucess. Hopefully that will change for nationals. Thanks for your help.

P.S. I dont want to be intrusive, but do you have pics of the system you have?

[EvanG]

It's not intrusive. If I had pics, I'd get them for you, but alas, I couldn't find any on my computer. However, feel completely free to stop by our pit at the nationals. I'm sure anyone in our pit would be more than willing to show you all the components of our bot. Depending on who you talk to, you might just get the whole talk, from the unique and innovative vacuum to the rollers. ;D

You'll figure out the important factors in delivering the balls. I'm sure you're doing it, but you should work on developing some ideas for systems now before Atlanta so you can make them there. The thing we had the most problems with, but is probably the most important thing (or it appeared to me but what do i know? I'm only an electronics guy) is the grip on the balls. If you have a good grip, and you have a good speed kicker, you can deliver the balls fairly efficiently. If its too loose, no matter how fast your kicker is, it won't move anything. If its too tight, it will just lift your robot on top of the ball instead of kick it.

Without seeing your bot, I couldn't tell you what I think is the problem and what you can do to fix it, but i'm sure you'll take a look at it and go ah hah! and get it. It happens all the time.

[ZACH P.]

Well thank you for your help. You've been most gracious.

[Ryan Morin]

This is great because back in NJ me and my coach, Rob, came up with this exact same strategy but were unable to do cause another robot got in our way. But this is great I thought no one else would ever think of this strategy to stop this kind of robot.

[DaBruteForceGuy]

Ah i remember that.... won of the best momants at Philly....

[theory6]

It's not that funny when it's your team robot that gets capped but got to hand to to the opposing team...that was a pretty smart idea to cap another robot Ofcourse there are tons of ways to counteract that

[RBrandy]

I am not absoluly positive on this, someone told me capping a robot was now against the rules. Ill have to look it up. If some one else knows, let me know.

[Ryan Morin]

Originally Posted by RBrandy

I am not absoluly positive on this, someone told me capping a robot was now against the rules. Ill have to look it up. If some one else knows, let me know.

I don't exactly know if it is againt the rules but my coach did ask the head ref at NJ before we attempted this and his exact words "stick it in em."

[Mark McLeod]

We had a lot of debate in the pits and with a few other teams before we did this to 177. We were also worried that it might damage their mechanism and we didn't want to do that. One of the options was to just hold the big ball over 177's hopper and deflect the balls.

We got our comeuppance that match when the power connector to our arm motor came loose. We couldn't cap or hang after that.

[BoyWithCape195]

Originally Posted by RBrandy

I am not absoluly positive on this, someone told me capping a robot was now against the rules. Ill have to look it up. If some one else knows, let me know.

Um, it is not against the rules, its still perfectly legal in the competition

[RoteAugen]

Originally Posted by BoyWithCape195

Um, it is not against the rules, its still perfectly legal in the competition

Yeah... I have a hard time believing they would make this illegal to do.. especially since it is not intentionally damaging a robot... it's just simply an attempt to control their actions on the field- defense.