compressor & Possession questions

[May_Walter]

Hi,

We were wondering what motors (excluding CIM motors) and gear boxes people used for the possession (keeping hold of the balls)?

Also- we have 4 accumulators (but no compressor) on our robot and we wanted to know- how is it legal to charge them?

Thank you,

Team Artemis

#3083

[Tottanka]

We used the FP motor. You may use any motor you'd like, no legal restrictions, and i think you'll find teams who used all motors for that.
You may fill the tanks pre-game, and thus have that limited amount of pressure, but why don't you add the compressor to the robot? i think youv'e got enough weight for that.

[Pausert]

I believe that many teams used a Fisher Price motor for their possession mechanism. Thats what we were using for our prototypes. I wouldn't recommend using the FP gearbox though, look at the Bane-Bots for FP motors and determine the reduction you want.

For the compressor, you are allowed to have an off-robot compressor as long as it is controlled by the robot's control system. Also, you still need a pressure gauge, release valve and the like. See the rules for more details.

[Dale]

We use two Fisher Price (FP) motors for our ball magnet running through BaneBots P60 transmissions but that's because we have rollers running in different directions and it was easier than using gears. Many teams have a single powered roller so a single FP would be fine.

FPs don't enjoy being stalled so if your ball magnet has a habit of doing that you'd want to dial back their speed in software or use the Jaguar's current limiting mode so as to avoid them drawing more than some preset limit. We limit ours to 10-15 amps in stall for the ball magnet. Rumor has it the new FPs have internal thermal protection and will shut themselves down before smoking but it's not something we rely on. Besides you don't want your ball magnet shutting down unpredictably in the middle of a match!

In terms of charging your air tanks, look at R75-R79 in the rules. Essentially you are allowed to have your compressor off-board but the power to drive it must come from your robot just as through it were on your robot. We charge ours from a push-on fitting in the Parker vent valve.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Chances are you want a fast motor for your possession device, so that means a CIM, Fisher Price, or one of the 555 motors. CIM would be overkill, so one of the other two would be good. We're using a 555 can motor through a 4:1 Banebots gearbox.

<R75> tells you what you need to know about charging your system with an off robot compressor. Basically, the pneumatic system may only be charged with a kit compressor (or similar) that is controlled and powered by the robot. You'd simply wire up and plumb your robot exactly as if you were going to have the compressor on your robot... and then disconnect to compressor and pull it off your robot before a match.