1 Motor Feeder and Indexer

[dsibal]

A couple months ago I designed a 1 motor feeder and indexer. I do not think I am the one who came up with this method but I would like to showcase it. This was just a prototype (I did not end up using it). The idea behind it is to use a rather gear which spins the feeder to intake balls and spins the indexer the opposite way to keep balls from going to the shooter preferably a flywheel. When the motor rotates the other way the indexer rotates the other way bringing the ball to the shooter. The feeder does not rotate due to the ratchet gear mechanism and allows the indexer to have control of the ball. This was my design for a 1 motor indexer and feeder. I do not take credit for making this design but would like to showcase it to you all.

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[Mark_Finley]

This makes it so each thing can only spin in one direction right?
Just something to keep in mind for anyone who will want to use this (especially with V5 motor limits)

[littlebro5]

Really cool design!

[dsibal]

@Mark Finley

This makes it so each thing can only spin in one direction right?
Just something to keep in mind for anyone who will want to use this (especially with V5 motor limits)

You can have the indexer spin the opposite direction when intaking ballls then have it spin the other way…u can either have the indexer or feeder spin in 2 different directions while the other mechanism will only spin one way.

[TeamTX]

Very nice!
So when it spins forwards, it operates both mechanisms by spinning the ratchet, the feeder, and the sprocket, right? Then when it goes backwards it only turns the ratchet and the sprocket? Or only the sprocket? How does the feeder stop when going backwards without it jamming the entire axle from spinning?
You mentioned it could be either one or the other that engages both ways - could it be set up so that neither engage both ways (each mechanism spins only one direction)? Would that require another ratchet?

[dsibal]

@TeamTX

Very nice!
So when it spins forwards, it operates both mechanisms by spinning the ratchet, the feeder, and the sprocket, right? Then when it goes backwards it only turns the ratchet and the sprocket? Or only the sprocket? How does the feeder stop when going backwards without it jamming the entire axle from spinning?
You mentioned it could be either one or the other that engages both ways - could it be set up so that neither engage both ways (each mechanism spins only one direction)? Would that require another ratchet?

I’ll be making another post answering all questions today or tomorrow…just stay tuned and I’ll answer ur questions

[TeamTX]

Thanks! I think we have answered some of the questions playing around with it this afternoon, but we’ll look forward to seeing your notes. We’ve been working on something like this (one motor, 2 mechanisms) and have been running into a few issues on size constraints and consistency.