Ball Roller Control System
- movable roller is ideal
- prevents too much force being applied on the roller when the robot drives over the ball
- space issue, there may not be enough room
- maybe have the motor on top of the roller, and the pivot point of the roller will not obstruct a kicker
- might limit how much the roller can move up and down
- how to reliably roll the ball towards the center of the robot
- at a shallow angle from the forward plane, the ball doesn’t want to go towards the center
Kicker
- kicker size
- smaller, compact kicker is better because the force is transfered better
- a larger kicker would allow you to shoot the ball without having to position it in the middle
- will need reinforcing structure to prevent the sides from flexing
- again, room conflict with the roller
- torsion spring fixation
- if attached to either kicker or to frame, then we’ll need a guide to prevent the torsion spring from turning out of place
- if fixed to both the kicker and the frame, then we will need a torsion spring that is more than 90 degrees
- different locking system to hold a cocked kicker in place
- implement a spider locking system, which is a set of teeth on the kicker leg, and the shaft, and the once the teeth pushes the kicker to the cocked position, the teeth on the shaft retracts
- trigger can either be a ratchet or teeth that locks on the base of the kicker
- low friction surface on the ratchet
Alternate Winch
- telescopic design based on that of Howler (2008 robot)
- better thought out, easier to design due to previous experience
- maybe implement a spring loaded stage similar to the working of a magic cane
