pic: Haven't got a clue for 'how to' climb for 30 points? Here's one

[NOV8R]

loading photo ...

[inkspell4]

What are you using to hook onto the first rung?

[NOV8R]

It's a steel spring loaded hook that pops out as the climbing shuttle pulls the robot up to the rung. Then the shuttle is free to move back the arm ready to reach for the next rung.

[Kevin Sevcik]

My question is if you've tried this with bumpers. Bumpers might make that climb a lot more difficult.

[NOV8R]

Yes, we've tried it with bumpers. That's one of the reasons the bot is only 15 x 24 inches.

[MattC9]

That's one small robot.

[PAR_WIG1350]

Video? PLEASE

[tickspe15]

It may be worth trying normal wheels instead of mech's before ditching the drive train all together

[NOV8R]

After thinking a lot about the drivetrain we've decided to keep it. An essential element of the design is CG manipulation. The majority of the mass is low in the robot base (4 CIMs, 4 Banebot p-80s etc). The arm is coupled to the base via a CIM/256:1 P=80 gearbox. Changing the relative orientation of the arm to the base while hanging is what controls the arms orientation to the tower. Said more simply kicking that heavy base back and forth controls where the arm goes.

This picture was meant to be a 'clue' not a 'how to'. That said, we'd be glad to answer any questions and share details with anybody trying to make a similar concept work. This has and continues to be an evolutionary process from the crazy idea we had right after kickoff. Our design criteria are something that's unique, simple and elegant. That has lead to a lot of sleepless nights but after all this is FIRST!

If you want to see all this in action we'll be at the Colorado scrimmage a week from Saturday.

[toastnbacon]

This is cool! I'm kind of relived you kept the drive train, although part of me really wanted to see a sucessul robot without one. Good luck, and let us know how you do!

[neshera]

A robot that climbs reliably for 30 points every match is not a bad alliance partner at all; can you pre-load colored discs, and dump them in the hopper at the top of the pyramid at the end of the climb?
This strategy may not make you the #1 seed, but will outscore lots of other teams that fail in/don't have autonomous, can only do a ten point climb, and end up only scoring five or six three-point discs in tele-op. And it could do so reliably, every single match.
This may outperform a robot that tries to do everything, and ends up doing nothing well.

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by neshera

A robot that climbs reliably for 30 points every match is not a bad alliance partner at all; can you pre-load colored discs, and dump them in the hopper at the top of the pyramid at the end of the climb?.

Colored discs start behind the corresponding alliance wall. You could design a robot that could be loaded by another robot for a dump but it'd be difficult for consistency between qualifications of a robot that can fit your needs.