Let us know what you think, detail in the description
We can do consecutive shot with 5 seconds between shots without having to wait for air to reload, we will also have these mounted on all four sides.
Pretty impressive
Is there a chance the kickers on different sides will work for different distances, like right next to the goal and from two zones away?
They will all shoot about the same maximum distance. We will use programming to vary the distance the kicks need to cover.
I liked the fence latch idea enough to steal it. 
Hope you don’t mind, FIRSTers are constantly told to steal from the best.
Mimicry Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
The angles and distances of the components mounted in relation to each other are critical though from what we’ve tested.
Yup we had that all worked out. It was until I saw your other video that we were overcomplicating the release mechanism.
I hate to be a kill-joy, but I feel the fence latch release system is extremely unsafe. Those latches are not designed to be used under any significant loading and may jostle free at unexpected times.
we’ve used these before with larger volume cylinders and didn’t have any problems and I don’t believe there’s any chance of them coming open especially since there’s a pneumatic cylinder holding them closed.
I will agree that was pretty impressive, now lets just see it on a robot and mobing :ahh:
Also I hope that the camera operator is okay after that last hit
They can easily be spring loaded and held with small actuators.
In my mind an important safety practice is using parts as they were designed. I also believe safety should be a priority for FIRST teams.
As such I don’t think it is unreasonable to encourage teams to purchase** load rated** release mechanisms such as McMaster-Carr #3899T54.
My other major concern is that fence latches aren’t subject to quality control w.r.t. their load bearing ability (because that is not the intended purpose). Although the latches have worked in the past, they may fail later on.
John,
Are you doing anything special to get the air out of the front of the cylinder faster when you kick the ball. A pressure relief valve?
We haven’t added anything to increase the speed the air leaves the non-pressurized side of the cylinder.
So if I understand this correctly, you pull back causing it to latch, then you push the same cylindar forward, but the gate latch stops it, then you open the gate latch, causing a quicker release. Am I understanding this correctly?
Thanks so much on behalf of team 1671!
Could not be more correct, but let me give credit to team 1726. They devolved this technique in 08… Good luck to all, hope the vid helps and we will make this as safe as possible.
Very nice, simple, hybrid elastic band-cylinder design!
Do you know the difference in distance by simply using the elastic band in the exact set-up, as even though you are “preloading” the cylinder and dumping the pressure on the “front” side of the piston, there still may be a negative effect by having the cylinder in the loop on the kick?
We are considering a design where the gate latch is attached to the end of the cylinder, cylinder extends to engage the kicker, cylinder retacts pulling back the kicker, and the gate latch is released when ready to kick (therefore being powered only by the elastic band). This would pretty much be the same parts, with a bit more complication in moving the latch to engage the kicker, but we’re thinking we’ll get higher velocity.
Any thoughts?
Yes my thoughts i’m thinking off, how durable is that latch to deal with having to pull back with the force of of the elastic band instead of just having to hold it back into position.
Without using the preloaded cylinder we get about 5 feet… So the cylinder plays a big role. With the hybrid we get on average of 30 feet. With just preload (no elastic) we get about 20-25.
Good luck with your elastic design, we decided against using it because the room need to use them… and the difficulty to bringit back, but hopefully you get it!
Thanks
You weren’t always in Arizona, right? That type device is in widespread use for holding and releasing nautical loads established by sails and rigging. While I appreciate the thought about load testing, this particular device would not close by itself, even though it might be possible to get it engaged on the retraction stroke of the piston. I will take a look through that massive online catalog to see if there is a better choice with a load specification.