[shaiqbashir]

Hi Guys!

well! i have to make a robot for a competetion that should be able to pot balls into the basket in the shortest possible time.

Now there are three mechanisms in my mind.

1) to make a robotic arm

2) to make a plunging mechanism

3) to drop the balls into the basket right from above.


as far as robotic arm is concerned, i think that the arm operates very slowly since lots of motors are involved in it.

we had decided first to go with simply a piston that takes the balls up and throws it into the cannon which opens into the middle of basket. So there is no real potting but placing the balls in.

But for that i have to go very close to the basket that takes some precious time out.

SOmeone suggest me to got with a plunger. Would u like to help me that how can i design a potting mechanism that is very accurate and fast.

Now i tell u that what im doing in option No 3.

We have two tunnels for the balls. Which are one above the other. There is a small plate beneath the lowermost tunnel that takes the ball up. Now this plate is a bit inclined. When it goes up , there comes an opening for the canon. when the inclination reaches that opening the balls find their way to go and they automatically drop through the cannon into the basket.


Now the problem actually im facing here is this that we have to go very close to the basket in order to pot the balls in. Then after potting the balls we have to make our bot go back a little which will surely consume a lot of time. I can tell you that the canon of ours has a max length of about 10cm which is placed outside the body. So can u suggest any projectile designing of this canon that makes the ball a projectile so that it can cover somewhat a greater distance.

Secondly is there any way to make this option#3 as fast as possible. I was discussing my project with an engineer. and he told me that we should use a plunger for it. He said its force and direction is always constant. Is it correct ? Dont u think ke it can malfuncion at any time? and make our balls go anywhere?


Your early reply shall be highly appreciated.

Take carez

Regards

Good Bye

[ViperTX]

Well...we need more information.....like are the balls contained in some sort of container and is the container a pre-determined distance from the basket where you wish to plate or put the balls?

[vacpress]

right off i would say USE AS FEW MOTORS AND MOVING PARTS AS POSSIBLE..

Also, I am not sure what 'potting' balls means... like.. get a ball into a basket?

In those competetions, often the smoothest, least complicated but most elegant solution wins... just because they are most reliable...

there was a great article in wired about a dirt poor high school team beating all of the university teams in an underwater robot competition.. and they spent like $2k on their robot.. the US navy corps team was there with their $50,000 bot and lost... the dirt poor, illegal mexican immigrants who won... they used packages of tampons to absorb water from their slight leak... they only won because instead of using expensive, hard to test, self engineered drive trains... they used 4 trolling motors(small powerfull waterproof electric motors for fishing boats).

rad

[shaiqbashir]

Hi Guys!

thanks for taking interest in my problem. I tried to be as clear as possible. But i think i have to be more a bit. Let me try then:

well! my dear friends! WE have got all dimensions given. What should be the size and what should be the distance all that is given to us. According to my design, the robot has a width of 37cm, length of 40 cm(30 cm body+ 10 cm cannon) and a height of about 70 cm. There will be 12 balls which robot has to carry at startup and the max height allowed for carrying the balls is 25cm above from the ground. I have made two tunnels in a slope in such a way that balls can easily come one after the other. One tunnel contains 8 balls and the other one contains 4 balls. Mind it that the outlet of these two tunnels are given one over the other. Beneath the lowest tunnel there is a collector plate which will get the ball from the tunnel. After getting that ball, the plate will go up and being inclined, as soon as it reaches the inner opening of the canon the ball will automatically flow into the cannon and the canon will be opening into the basket. In this way, everytime the balls will be surely going into the basket.

Now what im asking u is this my dear that is this a fast method. ANd is there any modification u suggest to make it fast and accurate.

Remember the biggest problem for me here is this that i have to go very close to the basket which takes my extra time. SO any advice which can prevent this???


I shall be waiting for ur replies fellowS!

Take carez

Good Bye!

[Bloy2004]

Do the balls have to "shoot" out of the cannon or can they just be dropped into the basket? Does the machine have to move away after "potting" each ball?...or is it stationary? I don't quite understand yet. What is the composition of the balls? Can you provide a sketch of the scenario?

Otherwise, line up all the balls in the cannon and "ping" the last one and the first one will pop out into the basket...then repeat until the last ball remains and trigger that one to shoot out and "pot" into the basket.

Whatever "potting" means....???

[shaiqbashir]

they can just be dropped into the baskets. That is what my idea is. and there are four baskets on four corners of the arena. SO surely after potting the balls, my robot has to move.
The balls are tennis balls.

Im asking u simply that whether my idea is feasible and fast or not?

and if ur answer is NO then what do u think the mechanism should be.

[keebler303]

i would say the easiest method would be a gravity fed tube with a mechanism to open the end to release the balls. is the basket low enough and robot high enough to be gravity driven? i would think placing the balls in the basket is much better than a projectile approach, there are too many variables and a much better chance to miss the basket. if you make the robot quick on its feet then it won't matter that you have to get close and you will be better off in my mind anyway.

Matt