pic: 1156 [Brazil] - Tetra Grabber

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Rocketboy

I agree, and it looks like the support IS in fact the cylinder itself. That could even be classified as a safety hazard. If the cylinder takes a blow from a defensive robot, or an obstacle like a steel bar, there could be an explosion. They could wrap something soft like a spongy kind-of material around it and that would soften any accidental collisions. Just don't get too aggressive with it or anything!

60 psi isn't enough for a real explosion*, but I can recall at least one such design failing after a few rough matches--team 22 used a cylinder as a support last year, and had it come apart on them. Granted, they put a lot more load on it by design--but in a collision, you're certainly asking for damage.

What about putting a PVC tube or an aluminum extrusion around the cylinder?

*Provided we're talking about a clean fracture, and the relatively large and heavy gripper coming off--if this were something that could produce shrapnel (which it isn't), 60 psi would be much more hazardous.