As a second year team we’re working to increase the speed of our prototype developments. This should allow us to get a functional robot on the ground as quickly as possible and begin testing and tweaking the real thing. Our build log has clips of our prototype testing from this afternoon.
http://3847.blogspot.com/2012/01/build-day-8-prototypes.html
The build log will be updated after each build session showing our progress. Any design improvements are appreciated.
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Really nice work guys! Thanks for sharing.
Nice quick elevator prototype. a thing you might want to consider is powering both sides of the elevator. You might find it will work a lot better than one side just rolling up. As an example, take 1714, More Robotics, from 2009 as a good way of looking at it.
We have thought about it but we know that it would add time to our build process and we’re not sure that the benefits outweigh the complexity cost. With only a 3 ball storage limit and only 18 balls on the court, most teams won’t be going through any where near the number of balls as in 06 or 09. This means jamming will be less of an issue because you aren’t putting as many balls through the system.
Our current CAD model allows for the relatively easy addition of a back belt if we find out that it is necessary. We would have to work out drilling accurate center distances for the gears (to reverse direction of the back belt) with the tools that we have. Or we could reverse it with a crossed belt drive, which now that I think about it, is an easier solution.
I don’t think belts on both sides is necessary. My team prototype collector with belts on the back and on roller in the front, and it worked pretty well. We only had one or two jams in about 20 to 30 minutes, and we think we can resolve these in the next build. I will keep it in mind if any jams continue though.