Robot Arm C

[illusionist]

I think picking up ping-pong balls is a little harder though. An electromagnet could pick up the batteries no problem, a ping-pong ball seems like it's more difficult to get a grasp on...

Ping pong balls will be harder, especially since they have a tendency to roll away at the slightest tap. Though I like this change since it emphasizes gripper design rather than arm strength.

Yup, absolutely. I would much rather work on gripper design and precise controlling than arm strength.

[twototwenty]

Ping pong balls...hmmm
I agree, I like the fact that thought will now need to be put into the gripper. This, combined with the fact that we don't need to be as conscious of the number of motors, opens up a world of possibilities .

[Jdogg]

Looking at the rules this year, I was wondering if a ballon could be used to raise the arm off the ground. The part were it says it needs to be stable in my opinion means that we wouldn't be allowed to use a ballon. But what if the ballon rested on the ceiling and due to the force of buoyancy became quite stable. Let's also assume that this ballon also scores a point. I know that this isn't the place for official clarifications blah blah blah...

[iwonder]

That'd be a mighty big balloon to lift an arm of just about any mass... If you did use a balloon to raise the ball at the end, I don't see how you could use the balloon to score a point... so that wouldn't work either... Care to elaborate?

[Jdogg]

That'd be a mighty big balloon to lift an arm of just about any mass... If you did use a balloon to raise the ball at the end, I don't see how you could use the balloon to score a point... so that wouldn't work either... Care to elaborate?

Well that depends on the weight of the arm. Since the arm doesn't need to raise the d batteries this year, it could be made out of something like balsa wood. I know from working on mission the other year we could make a ballon that lifted over 100 grams. Let's also say that the joints are put on pulleys and connected by cables at the joints made out of something that could be replaceable (aka rubber bands). Then when the run was over they could be cut and the arm could be lifted. Given that the ballon could expand at the start of the run, it could become quite large. Yes it would be challenging to make the balloon somehow score a point, but lets say you have one that moves a ping pong ball into the north zone by expansion or something. Although you'd lose a point or two, you could gain them back by the height bonus.

[iwonder]

Sounds complex But that'd be really cool to see work.

[Jdogg]

so would a ballon be legal?? I personally would say no, but i don't see any reason why it wouldn't be. But if they were in fact legal then i could see this becoming another mission(to a smaller extent... we would still have to do some tasks). i know this isn't the place for official clarifications blah blah blah..

[illusionist]

so would a ballon be legal?? I personally would say no, but i don't see any reason why it wouldn't be. But if they were in fact legal then i could see this becoming another mission(to a smaller extent... we would still have to do some tasks). i know this isn't the place for official clarifications blah blah blah..

I don't think it'd become at all like Mission. If you were able to raise the pingpong ball 9ft (the size of an average room), you'd get 5.5 points. Unless my interpretation of the rules is entirely off....

[Jdogg]

so would a ballon be legal?? I personally would say no, but i don't see any reason why it wouldn't be. But if they were in fact legal then i could see this becoming another mission(to a smaller extent... we would still have to do some tasks). i know this isn't the place for official clarifications blah blah blah..

I don't think it'd become at all like Mission. If you were able to raise the pingpong ball 9ft (the size of an average room), you'd get 5.5 points. Unless my interpretation of the rules is entirely off....

yeah but if we had a ballon in a gym or a stadium, then you have ceilings of upwards of 15 meters or 30 points.. you'll still need to do some of the run to get a good score, maybe the bonus jug and the ping pong balls. Then you'll be getting scores comparable of teams getting all the items, with a mediocre height task. So it really depends on if they actually allow balloons. Otherwise i don't see any design allowing the robot to get above 3 meters or so then you wouldn't have any team that could not attempt to pick up and move most of the objects. Maybe one or two at Nationals might get over 3 meters.. but you never know with scioly there are always really cool designs at every competition

[Jdogg]

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