Very young team struggling a bit with the andymark single stage elevator. Specifically looking for advice on pulley/rigging tips. Any experts out there?
Thanks
We have not finished ours yet, but what questions do you have as far as the rigging goes?
My group ended up finding a (slightly) longer flathead 10 32 bolt and tying the rope around it in between two washers and the nut. That should make it feed through the middle of the tubes better. For mounting the rope on the winch I would just say to watch the video that AndyMark put out.
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Iâve been looking for a video on the AM elevator and have not found much. Link? And any pics of your solutions would be much appreciated.
Totally green batch of builders, so really basic stuff. We can assemble it but are assuming there will be a pulley/winch system. What are you using?
If you look at the video, they show you how to assemble the pulley/ winch system.
We have not gotten there yet. We are a bit behind schedule and still working on the drivetrain.
However, yesterday, our member in charge of the climber got the parts laid out and began the assembly.
We are planning on trying to use a Neo or Falcon with either a Max Planetary or Sport gearbox. If the Max works, that is our preference. The holes line up, but the back plate may interfere with that bearing. I know we have both 12:1 and 16:1 gear ratios for the Max which is what Andymark recommends for Falcons and Neos respectively.
The rope comes down and gets clamped and then tied in the gearbox.
No, not the climberâŚAM single stage elevator. Similar layout?
T
Oops. I am sorry. I totally misunderstood.
You may be able to get some ideas from some of the other COTS elevators.
In both 2018, we bought the Rev kit. And ended up remaking it completely. They call it a lift, but it is an elevator. We only used the rigging actually. We had multi stages and the game pieces were heavier, so we used two neos (maybe they were cim and we used neos on the 2019 bot, I cannot remember). I also do not remember the gear ratios.
Edit: I also remember, we had difficulty with the rope jumping off the bearing. Making our own bearings with 1/4-20 bolts through nylon bushings helped. Also one stage is easier to manage then 3 (which is what we had).
Hey, no problem. After an earlier design was giving them difficulties they remembered we had this kit in stock. Tossed it together in one session. Definitely in learning mode with essentially an entirely inexperienced build team. Weâll play with it this week while working on the other design in parallel. Lots of learning going on here, mostly by that most estimable of methods: âWell, that could have gone betterâ.
The video references âstringââŚthe one time the team did an elevator back when we had kids and mentors who knew stuff it was a heavy duty set up using wire cable. What would be a good starting place for options for a light duty lift? I should think it would have to have strength, minimal stretching and not be prone to tanglingâŚ
Thanks!
Dyneema is your savior.
I know not the ways of Dyneema. Tell me more! Like, specific product, where to get it.
Amazon, type âdyneemaâ.
oooooh, thanks!
What are you using this elevator kit for? I assume it will be for a climber. In practice, it probably doesnât matter for this particular question, but itâs generally helpful to provide as much context as you can.
For a less experienced bunch, Iâd argue that a #35 chain drive is probably the âright solutionâ for reasons such as*:
- Mounting the moving âcarriageâ to the chain can be easily accomplished with 8-32 screws.
- There are multiple COTS options for tensioning #35 chain, such those from WCProducts and AndyMark.
- #35 chain will give you more load rating margin as compared #25 chain.
Some cons of this approach include:
- #35 chain is much heavier and takes up more volume compared to #25 chain or dyneema/spectra rope.
- #35 chains (and other chains) require more special tools to assemble and adjust (although, as an FRC team, you probably already do or should have decent chain breaking tools on hand).
Here are a few examples and guides that demonstrate how to rig an elevator like your kit with roller chain, regardless of size:
Ri3D Zoukeeperâs Climber Video:
These folks used custom climber gussets but the design is identical to the AndyMark kit.
973 Ramp Video on Chain Driving an Elevator:
A design tutorial on chain driving a similarly setup elevator.
Build Blitz 2015 Elevator Design featuring VEXPro elevator gussets:
Again, the bearing design is conceptually similar to the Andymark kit.
https://www.buildblitz.com/linear-elevator-is-complete/
I had trouble downloading the CAD at first due to third-party cookies, so I went ahead and mirrored the file here on Dropbox.
*Forgive me if these lists are seem too simple or patronizing. Iâm trying my best to leave behind a mostly complete answer for posterity.
Thanks!
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In 2018 we made our elevator systems with simple bearing blocks. Also, we make the going up and down movements with a rope that wraps with chains.
We used a chain drive and stripped out all the ropes one season
If youâre using chain for an elevator that is going to bear the weight of the robot, it is imperative that it be #35 chain. Vex rates their 25 chain for up to 155lbs. A robot at weight limit with batteries and bumpers will approach that weight and any bounce or shaking while climbing could put you well over that limit.
The only way to make 25 chain safe to use would be if you split the load between two lines of chain. But that only works under the assumption that you are able to equally tension both sets of chain.
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#truth.
We have even snapped #35 chain - more than once - on our prototype.
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