Hey guys!
Our new video of our roller gripper is up! Enjoy!
Andrew
Very impressive guys. You are definitely going to have a fast acquisition/release.
-Brando
Can it still pick up a tube if the tube is right up against your front bumper?
Very interesting! I am impressed!
Are you going to keep that speed? (I assume so). If so, do you have some kind of clutch system to prevent the cims from stalling, or a sensor on the back of the arm? Or nothing at all.
Nice. It looks like your new build space has all the machines you need to produce a good quick prototype. It is scary to think you are improving upon an '07 design that got you to Einstein. :eek:
Good point. I almost forgot they made it to Einstein! And now that I think about it, your right, same concept.
(didnt know how to do double quotes…)
- The Lucas. Our build space is actually at Lockheed Martin this year, they were generous enough to give us a space to build, along with many other things this year, They are our biggest sponsor!
-Cyberphil
We are modifying the roller a bit to spin at slower speeds since right now it runs at about 2500 RPM (we only has CIMs and moduloxes to prototype with)
we plan on running it with the 775 motors which will also will have custom mounting brackets for our modulox systems!
Are you guys going to have something to hold the tube in place after the roller stop?
I assuming that the tube will stay in place once you guys slow the speed down, though.
If it’s anything like the other rollers I’ve scene the rollers will be the narrowest part of the claw. Once the tube is sucked in, the expansion of that part of the tube after the rollers compress it should hold it in.
There are lots of fun machines at Lockheed but we are not allowed to touch any of them. We have our own little room with our own little machines.
wow, I wish you guys would throw some of those modulox’s our way 
Seriously though, If a couple of us wanted to come down and make something on one of your machines could we work that out Wendy?
Hey Adam:
We have to have advanced notice because there is security stuff you have to fill out.
We have:
A band saw, chop saw and a drill press and a lath. If you need to use any of those let me know.
Very nice to see and also very scary noting the einstein performance… Though im glad rollers are still being used because all i was seeing was claws. I hope to see you guys in St. Louis.
Looks awesome guys!!
Chop saw!? :yikes:
…chop saw 
We are thinking of dropping the speed, but only slightly, using Banebots in place of the Cims as the Cims are probably overpowered for this application. The cims were all we had to prototype with. A “gripped” tube will be detected by a limit switch on the back of gripper. We are debating the need for an encoder to sense the rotation and control the speed.
The tube is captured by not allowing the wheels to back drive, if you watch closely when the tubes are released the wheels are driven backwards. We’ll make sure to have the controls in place to keep that from happening.
The cool thing about the roller gripper is that it can allow for “easy” tube manipulation ala 233 in 2007. We found that this can be difficult on the points of the square and triangle but every semi circular cross section is mostly adjustable.
Adam, the tools in the video are at a mentors house, who was assisting in the fabrication of the gripper.
And of course this mentors house does come fully equipped with a chop saw.
Excellent! Looks great guys! Hopefully you make it to Einstein this year too!
Good Luck, and see you in Florida!
I’m an avid believer that no shop is fully equipped unless it has a chop saw.
Also, can any of you guys expand on the Modulox system? I’ve been trying to find info on it, but it doesn’t seem like there is much. Is it just a “universal” gearbox of sorts?
Looks like an awesome prototype!
Horizontal band saw > chop saw.