This is the 2nd prototype that we built so far. There are crappy OSH springs supplying the launch force - but it consistently does about 6.5 feet from the ground.
We will probably change out the springs. We did need a mentor to hold it down though. http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=nSRqo1DZNkY&rel=1&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//img.youtube.com/vi/nSRqo1DZNkY/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskKO6YNGkeoNiJ6_QP9Cc9fT
Needs some fine-tuning. Integration will be a challenge.
Sam N.
Sweet deal that you’re launching!
Have you tested it on an overpass mockup to see if it tends to bounce over? It doesn’t look to me like you’re getting enough horizontal motion to miss the bar in it’s entirety.
Yeah,
We need a pie pan or something ot hold the ball - it’s slipping off of the back of the metal assembly when it fires.
Looks awesome! Is that enough vertical height?
We are aiming for probably 8 feet total height from the ground, this nabs us 6.5 of those. As Sam mentioned, we are going to change those springs out to something beefier (ordering them tomorrow). Its giving a bit too much horizontal motion, so if we can angle it a bit better and throw more toward vertical, we could probably snatch a few more inches. Eh, I guess we’ll try it tomorrow.
On the note of holding the ball, one of our members managed to talk to someone at a DirecTV (I think) store and nab us an old satellite dish (I thought he was joking until he walked in with it:p ). Its a bit heavy, but for prototyping its probably fine.
If it changes, Ill post the goodness.
We have a mechanism that was able to launch it ~10 feet into the air… well that is before the forces caused some x-wing and aluminum bars to shear and contort beyond usability.
Hey guys, I know that this might be a little less on the serious note, but here is a robot that is launching bowling balls!
Enjoy!
Windell
#2477
What happened to the trackball video? Love to see it.
I wanted to watch the video clip but it says
“Video no longer available”
If you could fix the problem that would be awesome!
If you go to the actual Youtube page it works fine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSRqo1DZNkY
Thats the right link, thanks for extracting it!
How the heck are you guys launching the track ball that high?
Is it done with torsion springs or pneumatics?
If it is pnemautics, are you pre-charging the cylinders?
Definitely impressive!
Does the flag pole interfere with the trackball when it’s launched?
Asking for trade secrets are we? 
We tried using pneumatics, but couldnt nearly get enough height out of them (they couldn’t release the air that was used to retract them fast enough). We tried precharging them and cutting a rope to release them, which helped, but it still wasnt nearly enough. I think our single best test with pure pneumatics yeilded maybe 4 feet vertically. This model uses extension springs.
We havent nearly planned ahead well enough to get a flagpole on the robot. This is just a mostly plywood model we threw together to test the concept. The camera is a few feet away, but the rig is just sitting on the ground (no chassis, its still being machined).
you’ll want to look at the flag rule asap, because it’s one of the most restricting rules we’ve seen in a long while. also, there are at least two pretty straightforward solutions… think about it…
I smell gas struts… they are evil. We used 120lbs ones last year and we used a drill and a device we made to shut them and we killed our drill and our device. But i guess you guys would only have to use like 20lbs-40lbs max.
Nope, purely springs. We were thinking gas springs originally, but decided they were too slow.
In fact, 20 or so minutes ago, we launched it with the final springs (we got em yesterday!) and we got more then 10 feet of height:eek:! It was crazy. Ill see about YouTubing that video.
The 10 feet was insane. The whole campus could hear us cheer. We might youtube the vid later in the build.
But seriously folks, this thing we’ve build is extremely dangerous. We need blinking warning lights or something. I have no doubts that this device could break bone.
All other teams who are using a launcher - be very careful. (Refer to the FIRST update too)
Sam
How on Earth do you guys keep your trackball so red???
Do you apply a fresh coat of paint to it everyday???
Nice job about thinking of safety. From the video that was posted it looked like everyone was standing in a safe area. One more thing, The video you posted got pretty high up but only moved about 1 or 2 feet away from the robot. Do your new springs fix that, or are you working on getting more distance, or do you just not want anymore distance?
Joey
