pic: Team 801

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Drew Hopman

And it was! But it all started out with popsicle sticks and some push pins.

How did the popsicle sticks and the push pins evolve into this gripper? It is so fun to watch and so fast. Goodness.

[lukevanoort]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

How did the popsicle sticks and the push pins evolve into this gripper? It is so fun to watch and so fast. Goodness.

You can use straws and push pins to make pretty effective models of pinned connections for linkages such as this gripper or a jointed arm. At my work, we use them for our "Engineers in Training" workshop's lesson on trusses (where people often accidentally make 4-bar linkages...). I imagine popsicle sticks would work similarly, but are probably a lot stiffer.

[Drew Hopman]

Another video of from the first day running...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IHlFTTegSA

[Kristina Len]

Your robot is awesome. At the Florida regional while I was helping with scouting you guys were on the field and when you extended your claw my attention went directly towards the field. I was like do what, i love it. Good job and good luck in Atlanta.