Cool new ideas for FIRST Robots - who has them?

[sanddrag]

Who has some cool new ideas for FIRST robots that they'd like to share?

Way back, a dog shifting transmission was a cool new idea. And likewise crab drive was a new idea, and so was holonomic. An easy to build 4-speed was a cool new idea more recently, and so was using a Dewalt drill transmission.

Using the pneumatic kit parts to make a vacuum suction cup was a cool new idea.

But lately, I haven't really noticed an abundance of cool new ideas. So, if you have them, let's here 'em!

[JonBell]

If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

But seriously, I've got a few cool ideas sketched out somewhere (what else are we supposed to do in english class?) for possible game components.
I'll see what I can't scan in.

Basically, there were a bunch of elevator mechanisms (mainly scisor-like) and suction devices

[spears312]

I've got a few drive train ideas I'm working on, but they are only in the early stages. As far as I know I haven't seen what I'm thinking of before, but then again I haven't seen a lot .

I'm think it would be cool to see some climbing bots capable of more than what we saw for FIRST Frenzy (small uneven surfaces maybe?) but that would all depend on the field. The best way to see new innovations is for FIRST to throw us a curve ball next year.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Propeller?

[Lisa Perez]

I can't recall if any team has done this - I know there has been a walking robot, but the idea I have in mind is more of a strutting 'bot.

I was able to visit Case Western's and the University of Michigan's robotics labs last year, and they both had cockroach-like robots which basically had six flexible legs shaped like Cs that rotated fully around. Three legs would always be in contact with the ground surface (the first and the third on one side, and the second on the other).

It might not be the most efficient or defensive idea since there is not as much contact with the ground and such a bot can get easily pushed around, but then again, I guess efficiency and defense are really determined by the season's game

[Goober!!!]

I would like to have some more cheese in FIRST, LOL jk ;
but there are some ideas i have just beeing threw my first year of FIRST

[RogerR]

some of us are just waiting for the right time to throw out a omni directional, continuously variable drive trains...

[Alex357]

omni directional drivetrains... like say, the mecanum wheel drive system.

Here they are... Jester Drive: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=36079

[EricH]

sanddrag, if anyone really wants to spring something on everyone else, they won't say what it is or how it works, except in general terms. I have a drivetrain that I'm thinking about, but haven't drawn up or prototyped. There are other things cooking in various design areas, but I don't have pictures of them.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by EricH

sanddrag, if anyone really wants to spring something on everyone else, they won't say what it is or how it works, except in general terms.

That's what I was afraid of. It seems like a few people have ideas but are not willing to share (which is fine) so that makes this thread kind of pointless.

[Matt Krass]

Well, sanddrag, you've seen my Cool Idea for the Summer (tm), the Planetary direct drive Wheel, however, I don't know if I'm ever going to make it plausible, and stable, let alone feasible. Jeff Waegelin helped me run the numbers, I think we're talking Dave Lavery's salary for a year for each one.

[santosh]

Originally Posted by RogerR

some of us are just waiting for the right time to throw out a omni directional, continuously variable drive trains...

Wow, we were thinking the same kinda. We actually have started doing real research on CVT's.Well we are prototyping for a crab drive and the gear boxes haven't been designed yet....

[mechanicalbrain]

I'm working on an omni wheel drive train, using EL wire in all our electronic wiring (to give a really cool lighting effect) and I'm designing an absolutely amazing control system but i got to take the design to a metal shop to get a price estimate.

P.S. i have liquid electrical tape and I'm wondering if it is allowed on the robots.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain

I'm working on an omni wheel drive train, using EL wire in all our electronic wiring (to give a really cool lighting effect) and I'm designing an absolutely amazing control system but i got to take the design to a metal shop to get a price estimate.

P.S. i have liquid electrical tape and I'm wondering if it is allowed on the robots.

Teams commonly use it to insulate their battery leads.

a machine shop will likely price such a project out, very very high. In 2004 we got a quote for how much it would cost to machine a transmission similar to the Technokats 2003 drive, and it came out at around $10,000 (No joke).

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Cory

a machine shop will likely price such a project out, very very high. In 2004 we got a quote for how much it would cost to machine a transmission similar to the Technokats 2003 drive, and it came out at around $10,000 (No joke).

You say similar. Maybe it was similar except you wanted it 10 times the size? To drive a real car? Were you having them purchase new equipment for the job? Did you ask for one-ten-thousandth accuracy?

$10K for that tiny transmission is a heck of a lot. They probably just didn't want your business so they gave you that high number so you'd walk away and never come back.

I know it is all different parts and not a bunch of the same but still, it's not really that many parts and it's not really all that complex.