Is assisting the robot arm with a vacumn legal?

[electron]

Originally Posted by mechE131

I remember a lot of vacuums back in the days of Overdrive 2008; they were cool, but pretty ineffective.

True, but think of team 25's vacuum last year. It was a highly effective means of holding on to the soccer ball. All in all, however, I think that a vacuum takes a lot of tweaking when compared to a "grabber" that can to the same thing.

[mechE131]

Indeed, and those soccer balls were a hell of a lot lighter than that darn track ball.

I'm fortunate enough to have one in my 19 year collection of game pieces.

[winglerw28]

I think the most common issue with engineering is that it makes people aim to produce more creative methods instead of using effective methods. Innovation is a fantastic tool for solving problems, but sometimes your problems have already been solved in a more efficient way.

What does this method add in functionality or approach? If it doesn't alter the functionality and is only there to be cool, then it's a waste of time and energy.

It is a cool concept, but don't let cool factor diminish functionality.

[Liu_yiang]

Legal, yes, as long as it follows the specifications. However, keep some stuff in mind when dealing with suction of any sort:

1. The surface of suction needs to be fairly flat, otherwise there's no chance of getting a good seal.

2. The amount of suction required could be quite a bit.

3. The power requirement would be great. Remember, you have to carry the tube across the length of the field before you can score.

So, yes, it'd be cool to have a vacuum robot. But our team found that there were just too many issues to justify it.

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by winglerw28

I think the most common issue with engineering is that it makes people aim to produce more creative methods instead of using effective methods. Innovation is a fantastic tool for solving problems, but sometimes your problems have already been solved in a more efficient way.

What does this method add in functionality or approach? If it doesn't alter the functionality and is only there to be cool, then it's a waste of time and energy.

It is a cool concept, but don't let cool factor diminish functionality.

When you let go of the tube, a vacuum is less likely to get caught in it.

[winglerw28]

Well if you can make the outcome just as efficient as a mechanical counterpart then the answer to my previous question is yes, it does increase functionality/efficiency.

I'm not trying to hinder any ideas from developing and flourishing further - I just wanted to give some advice. Our team has a bad habit of getting stuck on improving a particular idea - so much so that we do unnecessary things and waste time.

[Libramen]

Right now our team is stuck between claw/rollers, vacuum/suction cup, and a pincher for the grabbing mechanism. Have any teams prototyped any of these yet?