Team 1501 is coming to play

[Ross340]

so is the curved surface on the back in case of a tip?

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by Ross340

so is the curved surface on the back in case of a tip?

I think it's because it looks cool.

The secondary reason might be because curves make monocoque extremely strong, but that's still secondary :-)

Nathan

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Nathan

I think it's because it looks cool.

The secondary reason might be because curves make monocoque extremely strong, but that's still secondary :-)

Nathan

Maybe also to help it fit in the 80"? Or is that a tertiary reason?

[Curt Henderson]

First lets say that we don't have a typical front to our robot this year. We have a Sail Side and a Fork Side. It took many confusing conversations before we came to this terminology, since we drive forward on either side of the robot being the forward direction with a flip of a lever switch.

The curved surface is the Sail Side and is curved for its strength and to allow the initial starting dimensions. The pivoting action provides the telescoping of the carriage rails to "Load" our launch device and simultainously pick up the ball in the same motion. We are very proud of this design and very confident that the safety judges will agree that our tension device is safe off the field, which was a major concern through the design phase.

If you like the robot so far, just wait until you see the "remove the ball from the overpass thingy" we have yet to reveal. Along with the vision routines this device will be very simple and very effective.

[JB987]

Cool bot...what happens if there are two trackballs of same color near each other an equal distance from your camera???

[Curt Henderson]

Originally Posted by JB987

Cool bot...what happens if there are two trackballs of same color near each other an equal distance from your camera???

As far as we know from the rules, that won't happen during the initial field setup for the autonomous mode as there is only to be one ball of each color on each side of the overpass at the start of autonomous mode.

[flamefixed]

very nice robot!

are the large pistons mounted on a casing around the forkside axle shaft?

and whats the release and reset mechanism on the forks?

and are the ropes and gas piston? there to support the welds on the forks?

[Wayne Doenges]

are the large pistons mounted on a casing around the forkside axle shaft?

There's a funny story associated with the piston mounting. The CAD file had them one length and the actual pistons were another. It turned out great as we were able to mount the pistons to our Omni-Wheel shafts. weight savings

and whats the release and reset mechanism on the forks?

If you look at the end of the forks you will see two pieces of UHMW. The robot sits on these in the starting position and the forks will fall forward when we move forward.

and are the ropes and gas piston? there to support the welds on the forks?

The gas piston (now removed) was to help the forks fall forward. We found we didn't need it. The yellow ropes are to take up the strain, of the forks when we fire. The welds won't fail. The forks would bend before that would happen. We are planning on making a second set of forks.
Good questions.

[flamefixed]

very nice way to deploy the forks.

in the other post i was referring to how do you release the forks for launch? and then bring them back down to reset?

[Chris_Elston]

Originally Posted by flamefixed

very nice way to deploy the forks.

in the other post i was referring to how do you release the forks for launch? and then bring them back down to reset?

check out the video again, around 0.34 through 0.38 seconds in the video you'll see the awesome release latch slide...*cough*...curt...*cough*...(inside joke)...

When the sail is in fork truck mode, the tubing is loose, no tension. we lock the latch. stretch the sail like stretching a rubber band..then we release the latch like pulling a pin. It's a safe setup when in the pits, unless we stretch the sail...

After the sled fires, we return to fork truck mode, sail returns, and the forks fall at a rate of 32.1740 ft/s² or 9.80665 m/s².

[Wayne Doenges]

in the other post i was referring to how do you release the forks for launch? and then bring them back down to reset?

My Bad
When the sail moves forward it stretches the tubing. When we are ready to fire the operator triggers the release. The first thing that happens is the flag is moved out of the way (it's on a pivot) than the trigger is released.
When the sail is brought back, the trolley (where ball rests) moves back down the tracks using gravity. When it reaches the bottom the trigger moves out of the way (it's on a pivot) and will drop back when the trolley is past. On the trolley is a piece of angled steel that the trigger catches on.

[Goober!!!]

I’m really proud of 1501 this year with a fantastic robot. I wished I would have been there more this year, but school and work have been keeping me busy. I'm trying my hardest to get to BMR this year to cheer on the team and all the other teams that are going. So good luck to all of the teams this year!!!

Goober!!!

[flamefixed]

Originally Posted by Chris_Elston

the forks fall at a rate of 32.1740 ft/s² or 9.80665 m/s².

you mean the forks fall at a rate accelerating at 9.8 m/s² ? assuming you have perfect sliders

[Curt Henderson]

Originally Posted by flamefixed

very nice way to deploy the forks.

in the other post i was referring to how do you release the forks for launch? and then bring them back down to reset?

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/30674

Here is a link to a photo of the Carriage Latch Release.

[Wayne Doenges]

We will once again be having the "Guess the Rivet Count" game at BMR.
The person who guesses closest the total number of rivets, in our robot, WITHOUT going over will win something nice. What it is I have no idea
The number of rivets is NOT 1501.