arm design

for your arms do you plan on using pneumatics or motors or other?
i ask just to see some of the other ideas out there, we have already designed our arm and i am just curious…

Team 647 will be using a motor powered arm. Also you may want to make this into a poll to be able to view the results easier.

We’re using motors, pneumatics are a maybe…

We will be using pneumatics for our arms

ok the poll is in, happy voting everyone!

We are using pneumatics and motors for our arm.

i knew i forgot an option…does anyone know how to edit a poll to add another option? if not select other in this case, also if you select other please state the specifics.

we, team 118, are going with a mix between motors and pnuematics. with a few peices of sugical tubing and zipties to help along the way.

My team, 399, is using motors and possibly pneumatic assist if we see it is necessary.

Motors with pnumatic grabber. I think our robot will surprise some people this year or at least turn heads, both in terms of capability, and in terms of improvement from last year. Overkill would be a nice way of summing it up. =p

The main lifting force is a fischer price motor. Pneumatics though are involved in grabbing of tetras and the on field assembly of our arm(it folds up first.)

~Ian

our team is thinking of using a mix of pneumatics and motors this year

i think pneumatics is simply better, if you are able to make it stop where you wanted. becasue motors may fry or brake down, and pneumatics are simpler to intsall, but if you are building a arm that move only by pneumatics, you will run out of air quickly.

Motor+Pneumatics

we’re by passing pneumatics all together…too heavy for simple single use applications.

motors and ingenuity for us!

pneumatics are more powerful but its an all or nothing solution. you can’t stop them halfway through, so if a tetra is just out of place then it may be difficult to pick it up

I agree with Zippiot. While pneumatics are easy to do and install, its all or nothing with them. In or out, not halfway. Motors allow that option. And they don’t just randomly burn up or catch fire. Only if they are overworked/ overstressed. You just need to check the loads on them. Plus, pneumatic tubes can get pinched. In addition, what happens when your air tank runs out? You have to wait for it to reload. And in a game where defense is key, that could cause you capping points. Just some words for thought…

Whatever happened to the method in which you could stop a pneumatic cylinder anywhere you want to. Can you still do that?

Team 637 is going with a motor driven arm. yet no articulation.

We have a single jointed arm with a second joint controlled by a four errr… three link. The whole thing is mounted on a stationary tower and folds up nicely inside it. On the end of the arm we have a pneumatic gripper somewhat akin to a stuffed teddybear grabber from hell. The arm will probably be powered by two fp motors if anyone ever takes the initiative to design a gearbox for them.

keke, we are goin all the way with ours, pnumatics, ball screw, and gears. every section and pivot uses a diffrent one.