pic: Team 1388: Secret Weapon

[Mike Hendricks]

Well .. the ratchet didnt perform as we anticipated at Sac, and neither did the FP. On a side note, we were unable to control our lower boom and ended up locking it, thus freeing up the van door.

Since we didnt get into the finals we spent about 4 hours working on the arm, using the stuff we had for the VD, and ended up mouting, and getting it all chained up (ironically we took an extra sprocket for something completely different, but didnt end up needing it, so we had everything we needed to convert it.

A special thanks to the 2 guys at the 254 Machine shop (cant remember their names, but they were both machinists for NASA) for all the work they helped us with this weekend.

If you were hoping to see the ratchet, stop by the 1388 pits in Atlanta, I'm going to see about making a little jig to show other teams how we mounted it and used it.

For teams that wanted to use the ratchet idea on their bot, I would suggest prototyping it and testing it heavily before you send it into a match. It requires alot of tweaking, but if you can get it dialed in, it works great. It isnt just hardware, theres alot of software r&d for getting the servo to lock in at the right times.

If you guys have any questions, feel free to PM me or the other active CD member from 1388 - jgannon. Good luck, hope to see you guys in Atlanta.

[Goober!!!]

never trust big sprockets

[KenWittlief]

If you had used a Craftsman wrench, you could take it back to Sears when you were done, and they would replace it, no questions asked.

BTW, what does it take to drill a 1/4" hole through a wrench handle? Arnt those things made of hardend chrome steel?

[Garth1388]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

If you had used a Craftsman wrench, you could take it back to Sears when you were done, and they would replace it, no questions asked.

BTW, what does it take to drill a 1/4" hole through a wrench handle? Arnt those things made of hardend chrome steel?

We actually thought about that, but we wanted to keep our Craftsman stuff, and we aren't planning on removing it any time soon.

It took about ten minutes on the drill press, with two people. The first to hold the wrench and the other to put on some oil every three seconds or so. It was very tedious. (As a rookie I was assigned to the oil).

[Bill Gold]

Originally Posted by Goober!!!

never trust big sprockets

Care to explain why big sprockets are bad?

Back on subject, great robot 1388! Thank you so much for coming to our aid at the Sacramento Regional. You guys are terrific!

-Bill

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Goober!!!

never trust big sprockets

Why we used a nice big sprocket as we have sucessfully in the past many times.

Could it be you tried it once and used to small a chain pitch?

Pete "Yes that really is No. 40 Chain" Matteson

[Mike Hendricks]

Originally Posted by Garth1388

and we aren't planning on removing it any time soon.

Er .. its actually off the bot, and will probally remain off in Atlanta. It'll be in the pits incase we need to swap back to the FP.

Drilling it wasnt bad. We had a cheaper ratchet to begin with .. and used a special Cobalt 1/4" drill bit. It wasnt too bad, and the bit still looks and drills like it was new. I have a video of it .. somewhere.

[Projectchon]

it will be better, If the chain goes under the small sprocket, couse is better to have more tooth attach to the chain