One of my favorite parts of FIRST every year is walking through the pits and seeing the ideas people have come up with. Literally every design that our team has on the white board after kickoff will be seen at some point or another, no matter how crazy, complicated, or impossible we thought they were!
And then you see something that you never, ever thought of.
I just wanted to hear some stories about outside-the-box thinking when it comes to material and parts utilization. I can only go to so many competitions each year, so I want to know what other crazy stuff is out there!
I’ll start with a robot that knocked my socks off:
1218 - Chestnut Hill Academy :eek:
At Chesapeake I looked at their robot and was floored. Their frame was made out of the coolest, lightest, and cheapest material I have ever seen - broken NHL hockey sticks! One of their kids worked at the Philadelphia Flyers practice facility and was able to get his hands on some broken composite sticks. The strength-to-weight ratio of a stick is unreal, and a broken hockey stick has virtually zero value.
On top of that, their launcher consisted of an aluminum step ladder (reinforced in places) used as a catapult. Yet another light, sturdy enough, and creative use of a part.
At West Michigan, team 2337 used a seven-pound hammer filled with small pieces of metal to “kick” the ball over the overpass. It worked well, especially combined with a fast drive and an effective pickup.
I’m sure that I’m not alone in being amazed at Team 272’s use of an electromagnet to tension the slingshot on their robot.
I only saw their robot with a trackball loaded at the end of a match once… facing the crowd the electromagnetic ceased to have electricity as it is wont to do at the end of a match, and the trackball was unleashed to bounce on the only judge sitting along judge’s row. :eek:
45 TechnoKats use of quite possibly the most unbelieveably cool slip-ring i’ve ever seen… no no, brushes weren’t good enough… they went for liquid mercury… :yikes:
Not to mention that part figures into the most mezmerizing robot manipulators i’ve yet seen… the gripper go round. twilight zone crescendo:ahh:
for the past to year we’ve use hockey sticks we try to use broker ones from the high school team but they were too short but even new ones were only 20$
It seems to me that this would be a violation of <R60>:
[quote=<R60>]Items specifically PROHIBITED from use on the ROBOT include:
Electric motors and/or servos different from, or in addition to, those in the Kit Of Parts, with
the exception of those specifically permitted by Rule <R59>.
Electric solenoid actuators (note: electric solenoid actuators are NOT the same as pneumatic
solenoid valves – the latter are permitted, the former are not).[/quote]
EDIT: Well, it might not be an ‘electric solenoid actuator’, thereby not violating the letter of the rules, but it works on the same principles (electromagnetism) and thusly, it certainly violates the spirit of the rules.
I can see this as a divergence from the topic of this thread so I’m guessing it should be moved if it turns into a big debate… but isn’t the Q&A contradicting itself here?
A solenoid is nothing more than an electromagnet with a slug in it to pull/push a load. What’s the difference that doesn’t make this “violate any other parts use rules”?
Wow… if I would have known this existed I could have at least built the prototype linear mass driver that I wanted to throw the ball with…
Skunkworks (1983) cut up an aluminum extension ladder to build their elevator: http://ahsrobotics.us/robotics/. Skunkworks is going to Championships as winners at Seattle.
Team 188 also used electronic magnets like the ones on doors. These held the elevator in place till released then gas shocks pushed the elevator forward to eject the ball.
Out of the robots I personally witnessed my personal favorite design was 2337, because of their unique ball hammering method. It’s one of the most creative way’s I’ve seen to launch the trackball.
On a side note, we were going to use an electromagnet to hold down our launcher but we at first interpreted the rule as being no electromagnets whatsoever. By the time we realized we could use a magnet, we already had a working trigger.
Team 1155 had a fork lift style launch that used garage door rails as the rails for their forks to ride in. This was by far the simplest way to build a fork lift. There was little machining involved and worked out great.
They didn’t actually use it in competition, but their robot was still plenty cool.