The suction cup included in the 2007 kit of parts is meant for flat objects. Does anybody know what type of cup to uses to pick up the ringers and where to get them? If you intend to make your own please explain your design.
The cup will pick up a ring, you just need to apply a little bit of force. PIAB makes many designs, perhaps you can find a distributor for their products if you feel you need a different cup.
We tested the suction cut and it seems to work very well with an inflated ringer but if they get deflated much atall its very difficult.
-Mike
our PIAB one works … but i think the cup would be alot better without the stuff inside it …
Think about why the stuff is in it in the first place. There is a very good reason for that stuff to be there.
These things can pick up chairs, but the slightest deformation and it can’t pick up a puny inner-tube 
are you guys having good luck with the suction cups cause i tried to get my team to you them and the y wouldn’t beacuse they were afraid it would take to long to pick the tube up and that it wouldn’t hold the tube because of its rounded surface
Our testing on the day of kickoff found the suction cup to be very effective at lifting tubes. Hook up the compressor, a tank, a valve, and the vacuum system, and see for yourself if it will be sufficient for your needs.
i would but im a programmer not a fabrication team member so i would be so lost
and would it be possible to pick up the tube fast and would the tube swing back and forth because we had problems like that 2 years ago
Well I like the idea of using suction cups. I just wonder how long the tubes will hold in a moving environment. Has anyone measured how great of an impact to the robot it would take to make a tube fall off of the suction cup.
The provided suction cup can pick up an inflated tube. However when we tested it, we thought we might get a better grip with a smaller cup or possibly a group of smaller cups. You can get them direct from PIAB. Check their website for the various types they have available. In the documents that came with the vacuum from PIAB they give an email address that FIRST teams can send email to. ([email protected]) Just put FIRST in the subject line. They have been very helpful to us and gave us instructions on how to order additional parts from them.
Chris Vivo
Mentor
Team 974
Plus, if you find the suction cup isn’t working as well as you hoped, you can always get the freshmen to lick it before every match. How much can saliva dry in 2 minutes? :yikes: