pic: Team 48 Something or Other

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by BurkeHalderman

Is that a rack and pinion I see? Looks real nice! Looking forward to checking this out in person.

It's in there somewhere.

Originally Posted by Cash4587

Looks to me like this could be a motor powered linear shooter?

Not exactly. A few key items are not present in this picture.

[mwmac]

Looks like the muzzle of a linear shooter, just missing the winch mechanism, a striker plate and some bungees...looking forward to seeing more..

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by mwmac

Looks like the muzzle of a linear shooter, just missing the winch mechanism, a striker plate and some bungees...looking forward to seeing more..

The winch mechanism will remain missing.

[Whippet]

Looks suspiciously like a high goal blocker to me.

[A_Reed]

Originally Posted by Whippet

Looks suspiciously like a high goal blocker to me.

High goal blockers don't require 100:1 gearing.

[Chris is me]

Here's a random, shot in the dark guess. Does the pinion gear have some teeth missing, by design?

Based on the short size of your linear punch (that whole assembly is ~14 inches long, right?), I'm guessing you're doing some kind of arm / claw shooter.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Here's a random, shot in the dark guess. Does the pinion gear have some teeth missing, by design?

Based on the short size of your linear punch (that whole assembly is ~14 inches long, right?), I'm guessing you're doing some kind of arm / claw shooter.

Magic 8 Ball says, "Outlook Good".

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

Magic 8 Ball says, "Outlook Good".

I'm quite excited to see this. We have a lot of similarities in our robot design. I only wish we had thought to use a clever mechanism like this instead of a winch and shifter. Did you find OTS rack gears that didn't weigh a ton or did you make your own?

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I'm quite excited to see this. We have a lot of similarities in our robot design. I only wish we had thought to use a clever mechanism like this instead of a winch and shifter. Did you find OTS rack gears that didn't weigh a ton or did you make your own?

All gears are steel and were purchased from AndyMark, including the 56-T pinion. We bought the 20 DP, 14.5* PA rack gear from McMaster (http://www.mcmaster.com/#6295K113). The total stroke of the unit is 6" (incl. 4" of ball contact), so the rack isn't that heavy.

Here is a test fire of the prototype at about 100 lbs. of tension. We are expecting to add some more tension for the final iteration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r2GO3_s-9s

igus' Y.E.S. program (http://www.igus.com/wpck/4856) graciously supplied the 1" aluminum shaft we're using as the punch rod, as well as the open-top linear bearing pillow blocks (which conveniently let the 3/8" wide rack gear slide right through them, contributing to the compactness of the launcher design).

One of the benefits of this linear punch design over others is that there is zero drag on the action from the unwinding of a winch spool.

[eddie12390]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r2GO3_s-9s

I can't wait to see this in person at the Greater Pittsburgh Regional. I can still remember your bot from 2012.