How to get the ball over the overpass!?

[Gdeaver]

Raising the ball and giving it a little lob while staying within the 80" cylinder and dealing with the equal but opposite reaction thing is challenging.

[Cooley744]

cannon...lol jk

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

Raising the ball and giving it a little lob while staying within the 80" cylinder and dealing with the equal but opposite reaction thing is challenging.

and that's what makes this all so much fun!

[joeweber]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

Raising the ball and giving it a little lob while staying within the 80" cylinder and dealing with the equal but opposite reaction thing is challenging.

Most defiantly our biggest challenge. I wonder how they are going to check this rule. Maybe they will have a large cylinder that you must run your robot up and down inside?

[seanwitte]

Originally Posted by Swampdude

Well here's what I wanted to do but couldn't because the gigantic flag holder is in the way, although I'd love to see someone try it. Basically, if you could hold the ball at the end of a pole (about 4' long maybe) behind your bot, as you travel towards the bars (finish line), plant the front end of the pole in the carpet with a grippy foot on it, and you pole vault the ball using the bots inertia.
The bot itself is your best source of stored energy which can be transfered into the ball.

... and speed up while the ball is in the air, catching it on the other side of the overpass.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by seanwitte

... and speed up while the ball is in the air, catching it on the other side of the overpass.

Why? Don't you like to score points?

[seanwitte]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Why? Don't you like to score points?

It just has to go over the bar, right? If it hits the floor it will bounce like crazy and be difficult to control. If you pop it over the overpass and catch it then you won't even have to slow down.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by seanwitte

It just has to go over the bar, right? If it hits the floor it will bounce like crazy and be difficult to control. If you pop it over the overpass and catch it then you won't even have to slow down.

I think Gary was referring to the fact that if you throw the Trackball over the Overpass, and then you catch it before it hits the ground or another robot, it doesn't count. So no points for all that effort.

Sean, if you have the time you can always come back to 116 - we can always use your help!

-dave

[seanwitte]

Originally Posted by dlavery

I think Gary was referring to the fact that if you throw the Trackball over the Overpass, and then you catch it before it hits the ground or another robot, it doesn't count. So no points for all that effort.

Sean, if you have the time you can always come back to 116 - we can always use your help!

-dave

I should learn to keep my mouth shut until I actually look at the rules.

[Cartwright]

We tested it, and and we could push the ball off or throw the ball over with a pneumatic. My team was thinking that we could hold it, lift it, and push it off the robot with the pneumatic. Also, we will probably have another pneumatic on the top of our tower that will push the ball off during Hybrid mode.

[=Martin=Taylor=]

Originally Posted by ar2

Any ideas guys???

-Pneumatics
-some sort of piston
-springs
-forklift


we were considering the springs but will FIRST allow?
is it safe? Cocking 3 springs before the match??

Pneumatics; how much force required??

Actuators; what kinds are allowed??
http://www.firgelliauto.com/default.php?cPath=94

what are your inputs??

Here are some tests my team did:

Pneumatics: Our team got the biggest piston we had laying around (1" bore 1.5' throw) and rigged it up to a pressure device rated at 60 psi (the maximum allowable pressure on the robot) and placed this piston behind the ball which we laid on some inclined sliders. Not only was the mechanism HUGE but it only was able to launch the ball 4' max, thus not clearing the overpass.

Springs: We used the same inclined sliders and made a little "cart" that carried the ball. This cart was attached to a mass of surgical tubing. We hoisted back the cart and released it. We were able to shoot the ball about 3'. This system was very dangerous, and involved the cart shooting forward and coming to a dead stop. We decided that designing a mechanism to draw back the springs would be very difficult.

And of course, neither of these designs presented a method of actually picking up the ball and loading it...

Forklift?

[Koko Ed]

We're planning on using telekinesis.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

We're planning on using telekinesis.

Hmm, can you prove that's a legal power source? As long as you don't use gerbils, I suppose it passes the flowchart.

[AHS1599]

Trebuchet?

[JesseK]

1885 is considering using the power of steam, so we're looking into building a great big pot with boiling water beneath a "cannon". It will be complete with a pressurization chamber and several parallel tubes since the durn things are so tiny. We'll also have some 2" Bose speakers on the right side of our robot pointing to the crowd that will play a nice BOOM whenever the ball is shot. Vintage late 1800's

No, I'm not serious