pic: 2010 Los Angeles Regional Champions

[rsisk]

kudos to the D'Penguineers for sharing so much detail and great shots of their robot. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin

[Jamie Kalb]

1717, you guys built an amazing machine this year. In a year where so many robots look and act the same, you pulled off an extremely creative and unique design that performed like a monster, and managed to make it elegant and good-looking, too. This is a team to watch at Atlanta.

[Mark Sheridan]

Wow! I knew 1717 had an great robot from the webcast, but these pictures really show how exemplary and innovative the team is. I love the gripper. Thank you for posting such great pictures.

[j.cole]

How does the lifter work? I understand it has a gas spring but how is it powered and how does it latch on to the tower?

[steelerborn]

1671 wishes to congratulate all of the winners from the LA regional. It was a lot of fun and everyone on our team enjoyed going.
Can't wait till next year see you guys there again.

[LLogan]

I was continuously impressed by seeing your robot compete. Thanks for answering my questions about your robot! That gas shock and those sorbothane grippers were quite impressive. However... I neglected to take pictures of your robot, D:. Do you happen to have any pictures of a close up of one of your swerve models inside the chassis? My team is trying to CADD a swerve drive right now, and we were wondering if your robot uses any sorts of bearings/bushings/devices when rotating and steering each of your swerve modules.

[JennaB]

Originally Posted by LLogan

Do you happen to have any pictures of a close up of one of your swerve models inside the chassis?

Here is a picture of two of our swerve modules with the side plates off.

Originally Posted by j.cole

How does the lifter work? I understand it has a gas spring but how is it powered and how does it latch on to the tower?

I believe KBonsell answered the first part of your question earlier, so I'll answer the second. I couldn’t find a good picture of our latching mechanism though, so I’ll try to explain it as best I can.
It works very much like double doors that are push-only. The doors are two free-spinning half-wheels that are restrained by surgical tubing. When we drive into the pole, the pole pushes in between the two wheels, forcing them to open. After a certain point, the pole pushes past the wheels, and the wheels snap back into place, locking our robot around the pole. A wheel near the bottom of our lifter touches the opposite side of the pole, ensuring that we keep tight to the pole as our gas spring pushes up off the tower.