pic: FRC 2363 Triple Helix, 'Genome Theta' 2016

[mrmummert]

Todd...you may or may not remember the issues we had with our winch system last year in which we used paracord.
Kyle can probably fill you in a little on it too. I forget at the moment which type we used (we tried several types) but I recall using the stuff that wasn't supposed to stretch...well no matter what you do it will stretch some or a lot
depending on what type you use. We found that out the hard way. We had to add a tensioning spring to prevent slack. We found out that it worked well when a constant load was on it. When we had any good amount of slack it would bind up on us or get caught in parts of the winch we had. You guys usually make stuff to closer tolerances than we do so you might not have too much of a problem with it. It also helps to burn the ends a little to help keep it from unraveling.

Over time keeping our winch and arm operating properly slowly became a PIA. That was one of the reasons we changed our robot design that we used for the off season "Rumble" event.