Cool new ideas for FIRST Robots - who has them?

[JackN]

I'm fairly certain it's illegal and it is not in anyway G.P but a robot that could trap others in it self and hold them.

[dez250]

Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain

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

Not to go OT:
Like normal plastic electrical tape, according to last years rules it would be allowed to insulate electrical connections only.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by 1derboy

I'm fairly certain it's illegal and it is not in anyway G.P but a robot that could trap others in it self and hold them.

Interesting idea though. I wonder if that would be considered pinning. Or instead what about a robot that encircles a moveable goal, trapping it?

I had once even thought of a robot that has really high traction and strong drivetrain. Then it has a hook and a winch. Then it could hook on to an opponent robot and reel them in to keep them from scoring. Or it could let them pull some line out if it wanted to. Of course it is porbably illegal and not GP and probably not incredibly useful because it would be a burden to the "fisherman-robot" too.

[John Gutmann]

i saw earlier that som eof you are looking at cvt's

well one year my team tryed to make then and it turned into a disaster the parts of it were al so heavy and then to shift it it is hard you cant just use a pnuematic unless it is multi positional but see wut you come up with, cause after all everybody has diff ideas...most of the time

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by 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.

So you would not be willing to pay $14.95 for each one? (ahh, the wonders of government salaries!)

-dave

[Rich Kressly]

Lawn Mowing
Caring for Plants
Feeding Jack-Jack the Fish
Cooking
Changing Diapers
Completing all tasks on the Honey-Do List

...send me THAT robot and I'll spring for Dave's salary AND lunch.

[KathieK]

Originally Posted by Rich Kressly

Lawn Mowing
Caring for Plants
Feeding Jack-Jack the Fish
Cooking
Changing Diapers
Completing all tasks on the Honey-Do List

...send me THAT robot and I'll spring for Dave's salary AND lunch.

And while you're at it, someone please design a robot that will update a college website so I can surf CD while pretending to do work! (Oh, and Dave, nothing beats academic staff salaries...)

[santosh]

I don't know if anyone else did this, but last year our drive modules expanded by the force of a piston. They expanded 4" on each side.

[F-14tomcat222]

I've been tinkering with a climbing wheel design(its like tank treads but on its own individual wheel)it kind of resembles a ferris wheel. I got the idea from an experimental WWI british tank design

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by santosh

I don't know if anyone else did this, but last year our drive modules expanded by the force of a piston. They expanded 4" on each side.

Could you elaborate on that a little? Do you have a picture?

[Adam Y.]

Originally Posted by F-14tomcat222

I've been tinkering with a climbing wheel design(its like tank treads but on its own individual wheel)it kind of resembles a ferris wheel. I got the idea from an experimental WWI british tank design

They make those for trucks. Essentially it's a set of four tank treads mounted onto the rims of the truck. It works pretty wheel.

i saw earlier that som eof you are looking at cvt's

well one year my team tryed to make then and it turned into a disaster the parts of it were al so heavy and then to shift it it is hard you cant just use a pnuematic unless it is multi positional but see wut you come up with, cause after all everybody has diff ideas...most of the time

Someone might want to correct me don't cvt's shift on their own. They don't need a pnuematic device to change gears. That is the advantage of cvts.

[Swampdude]

How about this thing ?
I think it's a good idea that could use some refinement. You get the best of both worlds, push and omni. I think mechanum was the new thing on the scene last year, and it's still in its baby stages (Hey Andymark.biz - Mechanum Wheels... hint hint!!!). Mechanum makes a lot of sense if you want the holonomic effect with better traction and less complexity in the chassis design, but still boils down to the "makeability" of such a thing.
People have done a wonderful job extracting maximum efficiency from all the given kit components while applying them effectively. The innovation levels have been tremendous. Necessity will bring innovation. I think we've tackled most of the difficult aspects of a carpet competition robot as far as the drive base goes. A lot of innovation gets overlooked in the manipulators. But makes no sense to design to the unknowns.

[Erin Rapacki]

I have a cool idea.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Erin Rapacki

I have a cool idea.

Instead of "who has them" I should have said "post them"

I don't really care who has them, I just care about the ideas themselves.

[mechanicalbrain]

i got to get a picture because i know you people will love it. on our arm to extend it we used a simple cable and pulley system. the catch is that the cable was this special toothed cable (looks like a normal cable but with a second cable kind of spiraling up the length of it) that fit perfectly into toothed pulleys. the benefit you ask. absolutely no slippage so instead of a bulky pneumatic setup or motor rig we had this thin cable. it worked beautifully.