pic: (447) NasaVCU regional

[miketwalker]

Originally Posted by dlavery

It is a brilliant design. The end effector is basically an inverted funnel that fits over the apex of the tetra. A Banner sensor at the top of the funnel detects when the funnel is completely seated on the tetra. When the sensor indicates the funnel is properly positioned, a piston on the side of the funnel (the little horizontal projection that you can see about 1/4 of the way up from the bottom of the funnel) extends into the space inside of the funnel. The piston is positioned so that the extended piston rod goes into the space under the "tetra connector" where the three edges of the tetra come together. Between the funnel over the top of the tetra apex, and the piston rod under the tetra connector, the tetra is effectively trapped in postion. They can then just lift it to whatever position they want. To release the tetra, they just retract the piston rod and the tetra falls out.

-dave

Wow, very good design. I especially like that banner sensor system... using sensors like that to help track position to automatically grab is a great way to save time and be accurate every time. Great job guys! Good luck at your future competitions, I really like your design.