Nice ball handling/feeding mechanism, and fantastic looking turret! I can’t wait to see this finished machine in action!
Just out of curiosity, how are you guys with top-heavyness? I assume the turret and shooter are going to be up in the air.
Just out of curiosity, how are you guys with top-heavyness? I assume the turret and shooter are going to be up in the air.
It is always a concern…but it obviously hasn’t stopped us from continuing with this design.
The shooter itself has been optimized for weight. Everything else is stuck in the base, low to the ground…and if you avoid certain on field elements, CG isn’t quite as big of a concern!
If you look close at the ball elevator you’ll see that there really isn’t anything there. A few aluminum tubes and a couple of plates! The turret pictured on top weights 3.75 lbs. with a globe.
Hmm, this reinforces a long-standing suspicion of mine, that a lot of teams may not be interested in the ramp, thus making it not worthwhile for other teams to pursue it either. I guess I’ll have to start a poll…
That’s awesome!
I hope your team’s coders have fun writing algorithm after algorithm to keep that constantly turret/shooter constantly aimed at the goal 
That would be pretty impressive if you indeed got it working to the point of being able to drive around while sucking up balls and have them shoot as soon as they got to the firing mechanism.
Good luck 
We contemplated a similar design, but fabrication difficulty led us to discard it for a similar, but much more robust scheme than loading throught the bottem of a rotating turret. I take it’s that large toothed section has been waterjetted?
What’s a good source for long timing belts, like the ones pictured above?
whoa, I like the camera angle 
Hmm, this looks close to the hieght limit as it is. Am i right to assume you shooter won’t be directly on top of this?
What’s a good source for long timing belts, like the ones pictured above?
www.sdp/si.com
Those particular belts are L-series single-sided belts from McMaster, but Stock Drive carries the similar stuff for cheap.
Hmm, this looks close to the hieght limit as it is. Am i right to assume you shooter won’t be directly on top of this?
You are not right to assume this. The belts pictured have an ideal center distance of 43.125" :eek:
That leaves 16.875" for something either above or below the ball tube…and just because it is pictured in a vertical setting doesn’t mean it has to stay in a vertical setting.
wow …! looks cool, how do you channel the balls into the skinny tube?
Or making it all the more worthwhile…
Looks sweet so far. After seeing that and the other pictures/CADs from 27 so far, I can’t wait to see the finished product.
Nice job guys. Any chance of a video of it in action before the ship date?
I showed the image to a guy on fabrication and his first question: “Is that a Michigan team?”
Looks awesome guys - as usual. I’m looking forward to seeing the whole thing. I’m trying to figure out what your doing with the balls from this point.
Craig
Looks good as always. hope all is goin well over there. the water jetted parts look great. ian was telling me about it during 2nd hour. keep it up
Are you shooting straight up, or can it be tilted?