Tetra Manipulators

[Tytus Gerrish]

okay, this is personally my biggest concern. Designing an Appendage witch is Gracefully Powerful and proficient in handling the tetrahedrons. From the grabber mechanism to the arm Assembly or tentacle or whatever. What are your thoughts?

[Ianworld]

I've been giving it some pretty heavy thinking(seeing as its the only field element) and i think tetra grabbers are not going to be anything fancy. To lift one all you really need is a swinging pole with maybe a hook on the end and a stopper to stop the tetra from falling too far back down the pole. Thats about as simple as you can get, but even the best shouldn't be too much more complicated. I'm thinking something akin to a fork lift with no powered grabber, just the up and down motion of the fork lift prongs. Anybody any ideas that more clever than that? (not that its particularly clever or anything)

[greencactus3]

YAY! people who did OCCRA this year just might have a bit of an advantage! tubies and tetras heh. close enough lol.
well stacking them on a goal is pretty simple once you figure a way to grab and lift that high. because the tetras can be placed with any side facing down.... well except the vision ones im guessing?
well anyways. if you can think of a strong reliable way to actually grip the pvc securly. maybe a simple claw. but i dunno.
is flinging these tetras against the rules? im not sure... because if you can make a backboardish thing, flinging these wouldnt be too hard.. dangerous yes. so if you can get a consistent arc with no spin, youre a winner.
ok ignore me.

[Wayne C.]

here's a place to look for ideas-

in 1997 the playing pieces were inner tubes hung on a rack or topping a pyramidal goal. The grabbers from that year would be very similar-

look for the designs from Toroid Terror

WC

[dubious elise]

Originally Posted by greencactus3

is flinging these tetras against the rules?

yes, it is. i can't quote you the section in the rules yet, but i remember it was one of the questions during the "quiz show" at the end of the webcast. you were correct, it's just far too dangerous to send those objects flying.
i agree with you Ian, simple ideas do sound good right about now!

[Xufer]

just to second that it was said multiple times that flinging, throwing and tosing of the tetras is not allowed... so basically no projectiles.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by greencactus3

is flinging these tetras against the rules?

As stated before, it throwing the tetras is not allowed. The rule is G23

Originally Posted by <G23>

TETRAS may not be thrown by either ROBOTS or HUMAN PLAYERS. Violations will result in disabling of the ROBOT and disqualification of the team. TETRAS may be dropped vertically on to a GOAL.

Wetzel

[TheOtherTaylor]

In addition to getting the tetras high enough, there's half a million ways to get a little bit of extra height out of your arm component but The arms can only get so high.

I think grabbers than can get a little extra height with the tetras are going to come through in the end of matches to get some final rows in where grabbers that are simple and work quickly might not. Where and how you grab the tetra has a big effect on wether or not you can put on the highest tetra.

[RonStoppable102]

Howabout a forklift that had an arm extending out with a ball jointed grabber hanging on it to grab tetras? Kind of like one of those stuffed animal claw machines.

[russell]

the problem with that is that then you have to get your arm on top of the tetra. Something that can hold the tetra flat (like it would rest on a flat surface) by one of the bottom corners, or pvc pipes is going to work best as far as height.

[n0cturnalxb]

Originally Posted by russell

Something that can hold the tetra flat (like it would rest on a flat surface) by one of the bottom corners, or pvc pipes is going to work best as far as height.

Or pick the tetra up from the bottom PVCs and hold it tilted at an angle towards the robot. That way, you wouldn't have to get the tetra as high up as the goal, just almost.. and then tilt it away from the robot, lower the tetra however low it must go, and then move away.

At least.. in theory, that works. I'm working with 6 unsharpened pencils, put together like a tetra with scotch tape .. and two other, separate pencils with a part of an unused row of small staples taped to them to test out my grabber ideas

[Aignam]

Originally Posted by n0cturnalxb

Or pick the tetra up from the bottom PVCs and hold it tilted at an angle towards the robot. That way, you wouldn't have to get the tetra as high up as the goal, just almost.. and then tilt it away from the robot, lower the tetra however low it must go, and then move away.

At least.. in theory, that works. I'm working with 6 unsharpened pencils, put together like a tetra with scotch tape .. and two other, separate pencils with a part of an unused row of small staples taped to them to test out my grabber ideas

If I learned anything from a late-night 1257 brainstorming session, it's that straws and tape work best.

[n0cturnalxb]

Originally Posted by Aignam

If I learned anything from a late-night 1257 brainstorming session, it's that straws and tape work best.

awesome .. straw and tape prototypes, here i come!

... after finals week ends, that is

[Sachiel7]

One word:
Pole

[skillinp]

OK, say we choose one of these several designs mentioned, what materials would be good for it; i mean besides just aluminum, the obvious answer, would some kind of layering system be beneficial? like maybe 2 pieces of aluminum sandwiching some fiberglass, perhaps?