Suction Cups

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by TravisE

are you guys having good luck with the suction cups cause i tried to get my team to you them and the y wouldn't beacuse they were afraid it would take to long to pick the tube up and that it wouldn't hold the tube because of its rounded surface

Our testing on the day of kickoff found the suction cup to be very effective at lifting tubes. Hook up the compressor, a tank, a valve, and the vacuum system, and see for yourself if it will be sufficient for your needs.

[TravisE]

i would but im a programmer not a fabrication team member so i would be so lost

and would it be possible to pick up the tube fast and would the tube swing back and forth because we had problems like that 2 years ago

[shippo1197]

Well I like the idea of using suction cups. I just wonder how long the tubes will hold in a moving environment. Has anyone measured how great of an impact to the robot it would take to make a tube fall off of the suction cup.

[Chris Vivo]

The provided suction cup can pick up an inflated tube. However when we tested it, we thought we might get a better grip with a smaller cup or possibly a group of smaller cups. You can get them direct from PIAB. Check their website for the various types they have available. In the documents that came with the vacuum from PIAB they give an email address that FIRST teams can send email to. (engineering@piab.com) Just put FIRST in the subject line. They have been very helpful to us and gave us instructions on how to order additional parts from them.

Chris Vivo
Mentor
Team 974

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by jgannon

Our testing on the day of kickoff found the suction cup to be very effective at lifting tubes. Hook up the compressor, a tank, a valve, and the vacuum system, and see for yourself if it will be sufficient for your needs.

Plus, if you find the suction cup isn't working as well as you hoped, you can always get the freshmen to lick it before every match. How much can saliva dry in 2 minutes?