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FRC 830 Drive Train First Run

February 10th, 2013 | Posted by admin in Ann Arbor | automation | Automation Alley | code | demo | FIRST | Maker Works | Michigan | pics or it didn't happen | robots - (Comments Off on FRC 830 Drive Train First Run)

It took a lot of work, but we finally have a working drive train and shooter. Now we just need to put the two together, add the pickup mechanism, and we are ready for competition.

FIRST 2013 Robot Ideas

January 6th, 2013 | Posted by admin in Ann Arbor | automation | FIRST | Fun! | Ideas | Inspiration | Maker Works | robots - (Comments Off on FIRST 2013 Robot Ideas)

I am helping mentor with FIRST Robotics Team 830 this year. Here are the rules for the  2013 FIRST Robotics Competition.  The TL;DR is that the robot basically needs to collect and shoot frisbees and climbing a really tall tower. The video below describes things very succinctly.

 

 

We need to get this done in the mater of just a few weeks. I started looking for a few inspiration ideas.

 

A personal favorite, the RiSE robot from the KodLab. A little too complex for our timeframe.

 

 

I really like this mechanism but I am not sure it will work on the pyramid.

 

 

Here is a slightly simpler version of the same mechanism.

 

 

This is a similar approach. Not quite applicable to our situation.

 

 

Here is a FIRST team actually meeting the challenge.

 

 

This design looks like it could be used for our applications with some modifications.

 

 

On the subject the frisbee launching this mechanism rules.

Finally, a nice primer on the physics of frisbee launching.