Hi, my team is using a winch that we found at Home Depot to shoot the ball, and we wondering if it is allowed to use this part. It is a Reese Towpower #1500 Winch.
Here is the link of the winch: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reese-Towpower-1500-Winch-with-Strap-74329/202328202#
If anyone can let me know if this is legal, it would be greatly appreciated. We looked through the game manual, but couldn’t find anything that helped to answer this question.
That winch does not have a FIRST approved motor.
Unless you change out the motor to an approved one (listed in the game manual) then no, it won’t be legal.
The winch that we got did not come with a motor, and we planned on using gears and a FIRST approved motor. What we were worried about was the winch itself and the fact that it is a manufactured part. We just wanted to make sure that using it wasn’t going against regulations.
This is perfectly acceptable to use. However, if you are using it to release and pull back a spring-loaded device, you need to consider how you release the mechanism for it to fire.
If you are back driving the motor with springs, your results will be much less impressive than if the motor becomes disengaged from the winch entirely.
From experience testing a similar hand winch from Harbor Freight, one thing to consider is how heavy the spool is on such a device. Accelerating such a heavy spool uses quite a bit of energy.
Last year we used a manufactured winch for our climbing mechanism… For us getting the winch to couple with gearbox was the difficult thing. So be careful on what type of winch you use.
There doesn’t appear to be any rule that I see is violated. However, as others have stated, safe use of all parts is one of our prime directives. Please consider failure modes and other safety issues in your design.