sphere bot

[Wayne C.]

my guys have discussed the idea in the past -especially considering the times we got Gyrochips in the kits - but other than roll around we couldn't figure out how it would play the game.

See if you can find the old toy called the Bumble Ball- it may give you some ideas on how to make this thing walk around. There are a number of cat toys that work on similar acentric cams and such.

If you do decide to build one I would certainly love to see how you do it....

WC

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by Wayne C.

my guys have discussed the idea in the past -especially considering the times we got Gyrochips in the kits - but other than roll around we couldn't figure out how it would play the game.

Yeah, the idea is cool, but it would pretty much ruin the mobility of your robot if you were to put out any appendages to actually manipulate something in the game.

Thinking about it though, Stack Attach might have worked with this. If you could get some actual power.

[rocknthehawk]

that would be aweosme...actually just having a sphere bot would be awesome...if i was going to build one, i'd jsut use 1" square moly tubing and bend it to make a frame, and then just cover that in sheets of aluminium that have been run through an english wheel a abunch of times, or something like 22-gauge sheetmetal....but i have no idea how this would effect the weight issue

[lbridgwater]

This is Roboball, it was designed , built and tested within about 6 weeks. most components are FIRST legal though I had to swap out a few things in order to fit under my weight limit of about 20 Kg ( 44 lbs). First ran about this time last year. It is capable of about 20 mph and will run for about an hour before the motors over heat or the battery for the IFI EDU controller dies. The ball material is a 50 inch diameter big-ins ball similar to the ones that have been used in a few FIRST competitions in the past. the little green wheels are just there in case the pendulum arm impacts the ground while traveling over bumpy terrain. It is inflatable and yes can travel across water.

[Ryan M.]

That's awesome!

Question though... is it able to turn? It's hard to tell from the pictures. (Being only two. And I'm an idiot programmer nerd who ignores the peasants who build the robot. )

[lbridgwater]

Definately able to turn, the pendulum interal to the deveice is leaned over at any angle you want and it will cause the sphere to lean over as well and as long as it is traveling forward it will turn, much like a motorcycle when you lean. Similarly the ball can lean so far over that it places the metal disks on the sides of the ball onto the ground and literaly turn on a dime. Though its nearly unstable if you try and turn at full speed. Tends to make the ball flip over, always a fun thing to see.

[JoeXIII'007]

I've always thought about it, never have proposed it to my team, but I've thought about it.

Thinking about it though, Stack Attack might have worked with this. If you could get some actual power.

There is no 'might have' with a sphere bot and Stack Attack. It would have been a champion bot just for the defensive capability and manuverability. I can see it knocking stacks of boxes down by 'bowling' into them and becoming king of the hill by rolling on top another bot or just evading them.

On a side note, why did I instantly think Samus when I saw this thread?



Source: Nintendo.com

[Adam Y.]

http://downloads.solarbotics.com/PDF/kit6.pdf http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ighlight=robot
Oddly enough this has been talked about before. It just was in the chitchat forum. Of course the robot discussed there pushed the definition of robot to the extreme.

[Adam Y.]

Please excuse me double posting but I figured it would be better than starting another thread on the same topic. Aparently there is a patent on a spherical robot. It was really quite random on how I discovered it because I was searching for the person's name. If anyone actually recognizes the name then you probably would know why I was curious.
Shperical robot patent

[greencactus3]

i just noticed. if you can have the spherical robot folded at the start and it folds out so the starting height limit is a little below the centerline of the sphere, then as much as other teams push you (assuming other teams robots only push from below the height limit), then they will not be able to push you (well they would, but) if you have a high traction, you can roll right over them no problem. anyone understand what im trying to say? please rephrase this then.

[phrontist]

Originally Posted by greencactus3

i just noticed. if you can have the spherical robot folded at the start and it folds out so the starting height limit is a little below the centerline of the sphere, then as much as other teams push you (assuming other teams robots only push from below the height limit), then they will not be able to push you (well they would, but) if you have a high traction, you can roll right over them no problem. anyone understand what im trying to say? please rephrase this then.

How would you change the size of the sphere? If it were somehow inflateable, it seems too easy to pop. I can't see any other expansion method being robust enough to work consistently.

[scitobor 617]

Originally Posted by phrontist

How would you change the size of the sphere? If it were somehow inflateable, it seems too easy to pop. I can't see any other expansion method being robust enough to work consistently.

Looking at lbridgwater's robot it may be possible to place a blower inside that central pole and have the pole open on one end and drill venting holes below where you place the blower, such that when the blower was run it would pull air into the pole and exhaust it out into the robot thru the venting holes. Now all you have to do is figure out how to wire that motor. Not to sure if that could easily be done but thats an idea.

[Levin571]

Another idea commonly passed around before was the idea of the hoverbot which would be cool to see but i haven't looked in the rule book for a while to see if it would be allowed

[phrontist]

Originally Posted by Levin571

Another idea commonly passed around before was the idea of the hoverbot which would be cool to see but i haven't looked in the rule book for a while to see if it would be allowed

It's perfectly legal, but even if you made it work you'd drain almost all of your resources (weight, power, fabrication time) doing it and in the end have a pretty useless bot.

Oh, btw, I fence foil, and I've challenged Max Lobovsky to a duel if we go to nationals...

Are you strictly saber?

[tkwetzel]

Originally Posted by greencactus3

i just noticed. if you can have the spherical robot folded at the start and it folds out so the starting height limit is a little below the centerline of the sphere, then as much as other teams push you (assuming other teams robots only push from below the height limit), then they will not be able to push you (well they would, but) if you have a high traction, you can roll right over them no problem. anyone understand what im trying to say? please rephrase this then.

If it is a sphere bot, then it is as wide as it is tall....and the width and length starting dimensions are much smaller, so it would have to be folded a lot or inflateable which probably wouldn't be to efficient because it would take a while to inflate anything strong enough to be on a FIRST field.