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I figured we’d see at least a few of these. Give us some details, please! How fast is it , how far does it reach, how many boxes will it knock down?
Looks great, though - any videos of this thing in motion?
we call it the flailer or the CBDM (controlled box displacement mechanism) it is just tall enough to go over the plexi walls by a few inches. it can reach the stack of 3, 4, 5, 5, 5 giving us 17 boxes (we can’t hit the bottom row.) there are two pneumatics that lift the arm and it takes about half a second to raise up to that position. after that it takes about another half second to open all the way. then about a second and a half to go 100 degrees. (we are working on making the first part of the turn and the opening one motion) total time should be no more than three seconds. it’s a beast. we just hope it doesn’t get the crap kicked out of it.
People we need your feedback! or at least would greatly appreciate it 
tell us what’s on your mind about our robot! 
Looks like a pretty good bot.
Will probably be pretty hard to stop.
Probably won’t be able to go up the ramp though, looks pretty top heavy. I wouldn’t be surprised if you screw up some other teams autonomous strategies though. Most teams seem to be trying to get to the stack first, and if there are boxes on the ramp, it may be hard.
At our kickoff in Seattle, WA, when boxes were sideways on the ramp, they were awful hard to push, (the lid scraped and got caught on the copper ramp).
Only question is how effective can it be after the first 15 seconds besides knocking down stacks.
Looks good though.
To be brutally honest, the first word that came to mind when I saw this picture was “breakable”
If that is the same aluminum L pieces that we used, one hit with those arms extended will bend them back. It also looks like you have the wings attached to the upper structure, so if a wing gets hit it may mess up the top part too. Unless its stronger than it looks, you guys are gonna have to be careful with your autonomous mode.
the arms are gone…due to weight. the “wing” on top was holding up the flailer because the pneumatics weren’t hooked up yet. we are planning on having a good showing in the auton period and basically calling it quits…hopefully some good campaigning and drafting will help us out… we can go up the ramp but have to go up backwards. then all the weight almost balances ourselves out. we do have a secret weapon that can help us with the staying on hdpe…all we have to do is get up there. currently our largest problem is our drive train…we have too good of traction on the carpet…if only we have thought of our idea last year. are we breakable…yes. but so is any robot. with the strategy we chose we feel we have a descent design. 22 boxes in 5 seconds max. paired with strong, wide, red and blue robot that is a bulldozer could make a very strong alliance.
*Originally posted by f22flyboy *
To be brutally honest, the first word that came to mind when I saw this picture was “breakable”
That’s still my thought
*Originally posted by collin234 *
** paired with strong, wide, red and blue robot that is a bulldozer could make a very strong alliance.**
Sounds good to me, Collin. I hopethat we’ll get our chances… it’s about time we teamed up!
By the way… great, gutsy design. This could be the 'bot which knocks over the stack first. When you get this working efficiently, teams will surely beat a path to your pit.
Andy B.
*Originally posted by Gadget470 *
**That’s still my thought **
I have to agree I think that one of the wings might get taken off in the competition
feedback? See now you let me start talking…that can be long. It might be a bit too late but here it is.
The idea is cool, I was wondering though…is it topheavy? Because if it is at all as soon as that starts swinging that weight on the top would most likely count for more and more… Is the wood suppose to be used to make it heavy at the bottom or was it for a shield? There are lighter shields you could use (thin plastic?) if topheavyness isn’t a problem allowing you that weight to make the braces holding the swinging arm more steady if that is needed or just to reposition that weight with some sort of spare weight so you can position it better or lower giving you better balance. I know it is wood and not a huge difference but it isn’t hard and could help…
Also that is going really easily knock over other people’s stacks even while guarded which could be huge as a side thing. It’s cool, I haven’t seen many of those.
the wood was there to just hold the side wings up. we also have a parking brake on the back. the wings are now off due to our issue of being overweight, but they can easily be swapped out with our brake if we would need to depending on our alliance partner. i will get a pic of the final robot before we ship. :]
now that the pneumatics team has completed it’s design we can open the flailer on the hinge and raise it up in one motion at the very beginning of auton mode. the downward force of the opening second half and the up force from the pneumatics nearly offset. we have added a couple of attachments that help. a “lazy suzan” type thing that keeps it level (so it stays off the plexi wall) and some things that help so we don’t hit all the boxes at once (definately twisted a 1/2" steel rod trying that). thank god for the two day extention or we’d be fixin it in virginia in march.
“Is it top heavy?” You’d better believe it. Don’t expect us to get in any fights on the ramp.
“The wings may be taken off at a competition” Quote from team captain in response to wings earlier this week…“Either I take them off right now or the robots in the other alliance in our first match takes them off in Richmond.” They’re gone. They were really an afterthought. We have two basic functions. Flail and follow other robot up the ramp. Then park.
One thought… full speed under the bar and just moving it back so it can no longer hit the stacks.
good work 234
Will probably be pretty hard to stop.
Im not sure, what are the wheels made of? From the performance of similar wheels at NYC last year, i think it may lack grip. I may be wrong.
Man thats a cool design, we thought of doing that, but discarded it. Guess we will see how good it is at Rutgers if you guys come!!
*Originally posted by David Kelly *
**but they can easily be swapped out with our brake if we would need to depending on our alliance partner. **
You must weigh all mechanisms at the same time to make weight. You would need reinspected if you were to ‘easily swap’ for a match. Then it’s the inspector’s decision to allow the swap. They ask “What did you change” when you reinspect, and if you say “Oh, we took off X mechanism and put on Y” He’ll ask for X, set it on your bot, set it all on the scale.
I’m still supporting the flailer, it’s an awesome device! Unless you have a robot with some serious pushing power (which I’m sure some of you do), it’s going to be hard to get the containers onto the other side of the field. Voila, match is under control after we have attacked the stacks. Now I know there is some room for errors in this strategy but c’mon there is in any strategy. Such as the going under the bar during autonomous mode… what if the bot has already moved out of that area, so you can’t hit them or whatever. Anyways, look for us @ Arizona , Virginia, and The Midwest Regional.
*Originally posted by Ed Crammond *
**Im not sure, what are the wheels made of? From the performance of similar wheels at NYC last year, i think it may lack grip. I may be wrong. **
or maybe not…we actually had to remove the front set of wheels and put on regular wheel chair wheels because we couldn’t turn with them both on. can we be pushed? of course but not that easily.
*Originally posted by collin234 *
**“The wings may be taken off at a competition” Quote from team captain in response to wings earlier this week…“Either I take them off right now or the robots in the other alliance in our first match takes them off in Richmond.” **
Awww… Leave them on, we’ll be happy to remove them for you during the match