Anyone else try pneumatic hurdling?

[Drwurm]

Anyone else fail miserably?

[Billfred]

I haven't done much research into what it'll take to hurdle a trackball, so I'll ask: What sort of setup were you using? The approach may make the difference.

[JesseK]

Yes, we failed miserably, with several bores and strokes. Pneumatic punches alone are most definitely not the complete answer.

[BeyondRamo]

Do we need to actually hurdle the ball over? Can we just move the arm over the Overpass and drop it? Just curious and i haven't heard anything about it.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by JesseK

Yes, we failed miserably, with several bores and strokes. Pneumatic punches alone are most definitely not the complete answer.

330 found that out in 2006... The first designs we tried then were ram-type, and even the pneumatic one didn't work.

[Drwurm]

We tried many bores and doubled the FIRST allowed air pressure. The best purely vertical height we got was a little over a foot. I think we'll be seeing a lot of bots carrying the ball over, rather than shooting.

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by BeyondRamo

Do we need to actually hurdle the ball over? Can we just move the arm over the Overpass and drop it? Just curious and i haven't heard anything about it.

No, you would not receive points for this. You can not be in control of the ball as it passes over the line.

Jacob

[EricH]

Originally Posted by whytheheckme

No, you would not receive points for this. You can not be in control of the ball as it passes over the line.

Jacob

There is some debate about this--for one thing, the animation disagrees (but that happened several times). For crossing, you are correct. For hurdling, we need clarification.

[Joe G.]

Originally Posted by whytheheckme

No, you would not receive points for this. You can not be in control of the ball as it passes over the line.

Jacob

The way I read the rules, the "no possessing ball while scoring" rule only applies to the two points for crossing the line, not the six point bonus for hurdling. I could be wrong, but I think you would recieve 6 points for this.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by whytheheckme

No, you would not receive points for this. You can not be in control of the ball as it passes over the line.

Jacob

Originally Posted by EricH

There is some debate about this--for one thing, the animation disagrees (but that happened several times). For crossing, you are correct. For hurdling, we need clarification.

Originally Posted by rocketperson44

The way I read the rules, the "no possessing ball while scoring" rule only applies to the two points for crossing the line, not the six point bonus for hurdling. I could be wrong, but I think you would recieve 6 points for this.

Here's what I found in the manual:

HURDLE: When a TRACKBALL CROSSES a FINISH LINE while passing above the OVERPASS
and then contacts either the floor or another ROBOT before re-contacting the originating ROBOT.

CROSSING: The act of a TRCKBALL or ROBOT passing through the plane defined by a line (i.e.
LANE MARKER or FINISH LINE) when it is projected vertically upwards. A TRACKBALL or
ROBOT shall have CROSSED a line when all parts of the object, while traveling in a counter-
clockwise direction, have completely passed through the plane.

It appears that your arm placement relative to the finish line is irrelevant when hurdling (as long as you follow the other rules).

[David Brinza]

Kinda like trying to punch a pillow across the room?

[Uberbots]

our piston attempt (with our strongest piston mind you) sent our mentors further than the ball, so this probably isnt a great idea.

however, maybe if you held the ball while applying the piston, the released the hold? would the elastic properties of the ball propel it?

[mbeardsworth]

We're looking into the possibility that a spring might work. Ideally there will be a whole lap to charge it up.

[AdamHeard]

Keep in mind the amount of energy required just to launch the 10 pound ball 6.5' into the air. I don't think that much energy can be safely be released at once on a FIRST robot.

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Keep in mind the amount of energy required just to launch the 10 pound ball 6.5' into the air. I don't think that much energy can be safely be released at once on a FIRST robot.

But maybe for 2-3 ft??