pic: Los Pollos Locos Presents: Cocket Launcher

[Billfred]

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[Akash Rastogi]

4 Mini-CIM shooter? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...Cr8QSGYss#t=5s

Jokes aside, looks good! What's your strategy? Are you going for full field shots?

[Mike dennis]

Can't wait to see you guys at the South Florida regional! I know a lot of the team who was around for palmetto in 2011 is excited to see you guys again.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Mike dennis

Can't wait to see you guys at the South Florida regional! I know a lot of the team who was around for palmetto in 2011 is excited to see you guys again.

Originally Posted by techtiger1

Billfred it will be good to have you back in Florida. Can't wait for South Florida regional its awesome to have one so close. We were trying to get out to Palmetto this year for a 3rd regional but budget didn't allow it.

I've waited ten seasons to get my team to sign up for a Florida event--I keep telling our kids that to be the man, you've gotta beat the man. When one-third of the world champions is in the mix, that counts.

SPAM, Bacon, and TechTigers* have been great partners in the past and I hope we can get the band back together next month!

*Okay, so TechTigers never picked any team of mine and may have stomped 1618's alliance 264-0 in the Palmetto '07 quarterfinals...but The Algorithm pairing us together over and over is how we got to the quarterfinals to begin with!

[EricS-Team180]

Gotta echo techtiger1 and Mike. I see Palmetto 2011 as the spark that led to our Championship run. Can't wait to mix it up you guys in Ft. Lauderdale!

Eric

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Will every single member of the team that put this robot together kill me if I called for tearing down that gearbox to rebuild it with new plates?

Hmmm. Tempting.

Really sharp-looking robot this year from LPL, one year we'll have the time to actually paint a robot before assembling it.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Hmmm. Tempting.

Really sharp-looking robot this year from LPL, one year we'll have the time to actually paint a robot before assembling it.

Un-tempting! To anyone thinking "Hey, this gearbox designing business looks easy!", start with an arm! Starting out with a gearbox built for speed (meaning misalignment and friction are more of a big deal) and turned on its side (meaning thrust loads are significantly more of a concern) is a recipe for frustration, headache, and words unfit for ChiefDelphi.

We actually painted this robot twice; the first job was a little premature and suffered through some reengineering and disassembly. The paint job is pure rattle-can spray paint, done just outside our shop with a little primer underneath. We probably have about $30-40 invested in it, but to me it makes a world of difference. Incocknito last year wouldn't have been half as imposing in bare metal and wood.

(And wood-bot haters beware, everything garnet in that picture is 1/2" birch plywood. It's not what you use, it's how you use it.)

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

4 Mini-CIM shooter? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...Cr8QSGYss#t=5s

Jokes aside, looks good! What's your strategy? Are you going for full field shots?

We've got it geared for a smidge faster linear speed than the RI3D shooter; going to four allows us to spin back up faster and worry far less about current draw. This was more of a concern when we were looking hard at pneumatic wheels, but the headroom is still nice to eliminate any inefficiencies inherent to the design and assembly process.

Could we gear it faster still? Probably. Will every single member of the team that put this robot together kill me if I called for tearing down that gearbox to rebuild it with new plates? Definitely.

We know we can hit from most of that end of the field, but we'll get better data next Thursday. For all the many things the University of South Carolina supports us with, room to uncork this thing is not really one of them.

[techtiger1]

Billfred it will be good to have you back in Florida. Can't wait for South Florida regional its awesome to have one so close. We were trying to get out to Palmetto this year for a 3rd regional but budget didn't allow it.

[SteveGPage]

Our team loves birch plywood! Last year, our shooter and our 8" wheels were made of it! This year, we have it as our base. We are looking forward to competing with you and your team next week!

Steve