Second FIRST Ball Launcher

[Schneidie]

That was probably targeted at the light, and while it ws a good idea, it was probably the most unsfe test I have ever seen.

[sanddrag]

We are thinking of two 8" wheels each weighing about a pound and each powered by direct drive off of a big CIM. Talk about scary!

[Kyle Love]

Is that thing going 12m/s^3 ? That thing was flying!

[Doug G]

Here's another type launcher again using CIM's with 2.67 reduction...

Link to the MPG video at our website...

Still not real sure if that's the way we'll go yet, but who knows...

[KTorak]

Originally Posted by Doug G

Here's another type launcher again using CIM's with 2.67 reduction...

Link to the MPG video at our website...

Still not real sure if that's the way we'll go yet, but who knows...

Shame, shame, where's the saftey glasses? Otherwise, that seems like an interesting mechanism. My team still hasnt finalized our design, but we know where we want to go with it, and what we want it to do.

[generalbrando]

For the record, it wasn't targeted at the light. We did two test fires. The second one you saw. The first hit the wall 3 ft below the ceiling. This difference is obviously due to holding the plate in place rather than mounting it. The ceiling looks damaged in the video, but it's not. The panel popped up and we put it back in. We did more damage with the tetras and our robot arm last year.

So again, while I emphasize that I agree this was not safe, I'll argue two points: We took our time reducing safety hazards and we made this prototype and posted the video here for the benefit of everyone knowing that kit parts can do launch the ball effectively. Diagrams and math are great, but we rest easier at night knowing that we won't build a complex mechanism only to have the ball go no more than 5ft.