(Before you ask, no, it doesn't touch the ground while hanging. We checked. A lot.)
Shaker Robotics, Team 2791, is proud to present our 2013 robot, DJ Bison.
Drivetrain: 4 CIM single speed 4WD geared for ~11.3 feet per second. Back wheel is a 6" direct driven Colson, front wheel is a 2012 kit wheel (6").
Arm: Multifunctional arm serves as frisbee hopper, shooter, aiming system, and hanging mechanism all in one.
Hanging: Hooks on side of arm. Shoulder joint powered by a CIM geared ~900:1 through two custom gearboxes. ~2 second lift time. Due to inefficiencies in the gear train and strategic CG placement, gearbox does not backdrive from hanging position.
Hopper: Two-tiered system. Top layer holds three frisbees. Vex wheel and motor spin to drop a frisbee down to the bottom layer, staging it in the shooter.
Shooter: A 6" pneumatic piston pulls each frisbee into a two wheeled shooter. CIM and Mini-CIM each direct drive a pair of 4 7/8" Banebots wheels. Can comfortably make shots from most places past half court.
Aiming System: Aiming is done entirely with the arm. A camera feeds back to our driver station, which has a crosshair drawn on a piece of Scotch tape attached to the screen. An encoder and limit switch allow for autonomous positioning of the arm and a pre-set height for travelling under the pyramid and using the loader.
Weight: ~90 Lbs
We are extremely proud of this robot. We think this is our best robot yet. We've finally achieved that elegant simplicity we've always wanted.