FRC488 Kicker Videos

We finally got our final kicker prototype together and testing. This is our practice machine.

The first video shows a load and kick. This is not a full power kick, as we don’t have limit switches installed yet and don’t want it breaking itself.

The second video shows a full load / kick / reset sequence. Our kicker’s foot extends to the edge of our bumpers and must reset in <2 seconds.

Very nice!

Both links you posted are the same, but the other video is easy enough to find.

I see the same video twice.

2 cims for the winch? What about your drivetrain?

I like the powerful kicks.

“Which button do I press?”
“non-zip tied”
“no, press zip tied.” ha priceless

very nice kicker I like how the kicking arm has such a short swing, very nice design.

I update the links – there should be two unique videos there now.

Two CIMs are almost certainly overkill in this case, but we wanted to be sure we had the power we needed to load and kick very rapidly. Our drive uses just 2 CIMs, as has been our tradition for a number of years.

The release mechanism was not hooked up to the control system, but to a simple switch box we have for testing mechanisms. There’s sometimes a bit of confusion about who’s controlling what and which button makes things move in which direction.

Forgot to ask in my first post, what’s the ratio on the gearbox driving the leadscrew?

1:1 :slight_smile:

The screw, of course, provides tremendous mechanical advantage. It’s a 3/8-12 Acme screw.

A little bit more spring stretch, a lot more distance:

Someone in the video mentioned the difference between shots being only be 1/4". I’m guessing thats in terms of linear travel of the springs. Are you concerned at all about dialing your kicker in to precise measurements to hit the goal?

Looks nice so far. I like the use of lead screw.