pic: FRC488 Lift Mechanism Deployed

[NMR]

http://www.tommygate.com/downloads.asp

[Ericgehrken]

Great system, nice model.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Manoel

Looks great, as well as the rest of the robot, but I have a few questions - not sure if I completely understood your system.

Are the gas shocks preloaded, and then released to lift (launch? ) another robot? If that's the case, how hard is it to load them? Lifting a 150 pound robot 14" up in two seconds sure requires a lot of force.

Also, does the entire system pivot around that huge C-bracket?
Anyway, your robot sure looks great. It seems like we are using the same material on our ramps (does it, by any chance, weigh 1,5 kg per square meter? Incredibly strong stuff! )

The gas springs are compressed before the match by some method which has yet to be determined. It'll likely involve students sitting on it or something similar while we lock things down. When we lift, the lock holding the springs closed will be released and they will extend and raise the platform.

We're using 2 125 lbf. gas springs, so it take 250 lbf. to lower the platform. We are considering switching to 100 lbf. or 75 lbf. springs to make it easier to reset the system -- but that switch is predicated upon their ability to lift a robot. They exert pretty near constant force, so it doesn't take more than a few seconds for them to fully extend.

The lifts do rotate around the large 'C-bracket'. The platform is made from 16 mm Polygal (www.polygal.com) and weighs .55 lbs./sq. in. -- about 11 pounds for both sides.

Originally Posted by firstbots195

Great system, nice model.

Thanks There'll be some pictures of our progress on the lifts uploaded sometime very soon.