Heres a few images of the robot design we’ve created. The “jaws” are pneumatically operated and grab the ball loading it to the arm. When the arm is raised the ball is parallel with the over pass and the upper jaw launches it over. We originally were going to use 2 tread wheels and 2 mechanums but then opted for all mechanum. Questions comments or suggestion are appreciated.
looks awesome!
do you stay within the 80" rule?
we stretch out to 81 inches when the arm lifts up and is in possession of a ball. Luckily its the third week so we can adjust for that
very impressive
Very clever design! I’d love to see a movie of it doing it’s thing, it looks like it would be very fun to watch.
Remember it’s not 80" long it’s fitting into a 80" circle.
BTW I love the design.
we have a freakishly similar design…may i ask what material you used for the “jaw”…also how do you close it up to fit inside starting position…congratulations on an amazing looking robot
here is our design (sadly we dont have anyone experienced with CAD) so we use chalk and a board…the design is to scale…we have a protoype, much like yours except with a different method of gripping the ball (we used PVC…i dont personally like the pvc idea i like yours much better)
No it’s not. You may not have any two points more than 80" apart (horizontally).
That’s neat! uses up a lot of air though, doesn’t it? we are also dealing with air consumption issues 
<R16> Once the MATCH has started, the ROBOT may assume a PLAYING CONFIGURATION that exceeds the size dimensions specified in Rule <R11>. While in the PLAYING CONFIGURATION, the ROBOT may expand up to a maximum horizontal dimension of 80 inches (e.g. all parts of the ROBOT must fit within an imaginary 80-inch-diameter upright cylinder).
Read this http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61401&highlight=r16
We’ve been thru the 80" rule discussion in a few different threads…and the Q&A addresses it also…the circle thing is an example, but the rule says only that you can’t have two points further apart than 80" in a horizontal direction.
Measuring this can be a bit difficult.
oh and can i reccomend you use the same tread that u used for the traction wheels as ball “grippers” they grab the ball like no other
I was told by an official FIRST regional inspector that it is not an upright cylinder. The shape is more like a very high piece of pie (ex. take an 80" long piece of extrusion and make a sweep from the farthest point.
Thank you Squirrel.
The Jaws are made from some AL pipes one of our mentors shop had lying around. As to fit in the starting dimensions the Jaws fold up against the arm almost vertically. Its just barely under height restriction and the 80in rule is a little touchy for us. Were gonna have to bend or shorten the jaws slightly
We used 1" electrical conduit and a pipe bender. Also, if you use conduit, DO NOT DRILL THROUGH IT or flatten it. Use pipe clams to avoid creating potential failure points. Note: Last year at the Michigan regional a team constructed an arm out of PVC and it snapped.
By my interpretation of the rule their is no set limit vertically, as it would be rather difficult to raise a 40" diameter ball less than 80" and still manage for it to pass over an overpass that is 78" off of the groung that is why the rule specifically states an 80" circle in the horizontal plain.
There is no vertical restriction. Touch the ceiling if you want to. The 80" restriction is horizontal.
It doesn’t say 80" horizontal circle. It says point to point measurement (the circle is an example).
Unlimited height is a good thing…
Whats up the the traction/mecanum wheel set-up in the one pick
He explained it in some post, something about they tried 2 mecs and decided to go for all 4