Ok, here is our prototype robot. We have had it finished for about 3 days now and we are now tweaking, testing, and practicing while our final parts are being made. The first pic is the robot collapsed. The second is with it extended and gives you an idea of how tall it is. Hope you enjoy. Please post feed back.
Folded Up:
http://img3.imagevenue.com/loc183/6a6_100_0128web.jpg
Extended:
http://img3.imagevenue.com/loc236/785_100_0137.jpg
SGS Dragons
that looks really good. I like the arm.
Do you plan on cleaning up the wiring and tubing? They can get caught in anything and that could be very bad.
Yes, we are doing that. Today I will be making the main electronics board so that it will look better and not get caught. We are also planning on changing our drive system to 6 wheel drive instead of the two wheel drive we have now. I will post more pictures when we get them going.
SGS Dragons
FIRST chassis and transmissions, right?
Looks good. I have a couple of questions…
Does that tetra manipulator (on the end of the arm) work by sliding the two pieces of PVC in and out to pick up tetras? Are you planning on being able to drive around with the arm folded in while holding a tetra at the same time? I think that is a cool idea.
Also, how long of a stroke does the big cylinder have? Does it use up alot of air? Will you have to be constantly starting up your air compressor during the match, or are you planning on using that cylinder relatively few times? My only concern is that using a large cylinder like that might require the air compressor to run alot, and therefore drain your battery faster.
And I am glad that you are going to use 6 wheel drive… casters (I think thats what I see in the picture) can make your robot easier to be pushed around. Also, are you planning on using those KOP wheels? Personally, I think that they might not have enough traction for holding your ground while trying to cap. When you do your 6 wheel drive, are you going to lower your center wheel a little bit for better turning?
How much does your chassis weigh? How much does your arm weigh? Are you concerned about center of gravity issues at all? Are you afraid of having too much weight in the front? You could try to counterbalance the weight of the arm by moving the heavier components of your robot to the back.
Are you planning on adding any shielding? The way it looks right now, some of your electrical components are vulnerable, such as those spikes on the bracing. The robot controller on the back looks like it might take a whack too. Shielding would be very easy to add… all you need is some lexan, a drill, and some zipties!
What is the wall thickness of the angle aluminum used for the first section of your arm (the “mast”)? I can’t quite tell. If it is as thin as/thinner than 1/8 inch, you might end up with some interesting dents or bends by the end of competition season. Be aware of the loads that the arm will have to bear when it is counteracting other robots, as well as lifting the game pieces.
Oh, and what is the big muffin fan on the side for? And where are you putting your battery (unless for some reason I missed seeing it)?
Overall, nice design… looks great. Thank you for bearing with my questions…I have a tendency to ask alot! 
– Jaine
hmm,
my team used that honkin’ 24" stoke cylinder last year to make the pullup…if i was you, i would definatly not wanna keep reaching up/down as your battery will be dead faster than vanilla ice’s career. BUT i do see you have a cooling system for your compressor, that right there is gonna be the difference between how well your bot will constantly be raising and lowering that arm. i like it.
looks good guys, seems pretty solid for a rookie team. good luck
1595, you all are doing a great job! Keep up the great work@!!!
looking good. Our deisgn is almost identicle(sp) except we opted for geared down motors, they gave us a greater reach, posisitonalublity, and are easier to get to any one point than stopping pnuematics
Your robot looks very awesome. Looks a lot like something someone was telling me about though…I was wondering…would you happen to know anyone by the CD username JoshJ?
Hey, Thanks for all your support on everything. And for all the questions, we are able to run our compressor for almost the whole match and still be fine. We don’t use as much battery power as you would if you were starting and stopping all the time. Another thing is that we added some support and helper pistons to make it easier for us to lift. I will get some pics up later today of it. And we HAVE decided to go with 6 wheel drive as it will help use greatly for driving. As for the center of gravity, we have it pretty well nailed. We haven’t had any problems with tipping over and we can have our arm extended all the way w/a tetra on the end and not have any problems with tipping. It’s really stable. We are also going to be replacing the back A from with something a little more stable. The parts are all being made as we speak.
Keep the comments coming, and if you have any ideas or concerns, please let us know as we are just starting and are a rookie team. THanks
SGS Dragons
“Your robot looks very awesome. Looks a lot like something someone was telling me about though…I was wondering…would you happen to know anyone by the CD username JoshJ?”
^^^^
And by the way, no I don’t know this person.
SGS Dragons
Photo 1: I hope your final robot will have a better wiring… 
Photo 2: Where are the security glasses?! :ahh:
For both photos: congratulations, really nice job!
how much does your arm weigh? =)
Ok, Here is a picture of our helper pistons. They are basicly the same thing that you use to help open the trunk of your car. We have one on each side of the wrist part of our arm and then a large on on the main arm (Not pictured). Here you go:
http://img3.imagevenue.com/loc174/94d_Helper.jpg
SGS Dragons
Nice job so far guys. Just a couple questions, how many tetras can you stack on each goal, and can you cap the center goal?
All I have to say is that looks very, VERY familiar to something sitting a few feet away from me. :ahh:
Wow! That’s scary. Even our support beams are similar!
Here’s an CAD snap…:
http://www.raptar.net/2005botsnap.JPG
(Our manipulator isn’t shown, and not all the siding is there, but this gives you an idea)
(PS, I think this is the fullest pic of our 2005 bot that I’ve shown here on CD!)
Here are a few differences though:
-Our supports spread across the full chassis
-They are all welded into (mostly) one assembly
-We are using a 4-bar lift, rather than just 1 pivoting bar
-Weight (I guess) -Ours is (pretty far) under 20lbs (piston included) (How much does your arm weigh?)
-We are using 1 24x2" piston to power our arm, and, we have several tricks up our sleeves that should keep our air supply from reaching 0.
I like your design! It’s shocking to see how similar these two bots are, especially from 2 teams across the nation! WOW!
Looks like you’re doing great! Keep up the good work!
Wow. I’m jealous. That looks really nice, especially for a prototype. 
How many times can you actuate those cylinders, with the compressor running the whole 2 minutes? That just seems like a ton of pneumatics you have there.
Thanks again for all the support. That is wierd how our two robots look similar. Anyways, we can move our arm as many times as we want. We are also able to cap the center goal easly.
Oh and I have redone all the electronics and I will get pictures up maybe tonight, maybe tomarrow. There is a HUGE difference in the two layouts 
Keep the comments coming.
SGS Dragons
I think it looks awesome. It’s quite a bit different from our bot and its always good to see the variety of designs within all the bots.
