we only saw very limited success with the catapult, not to mention it is similarly difficult to load mechanically like a piston, so we personally are going to use a flywheel.
i think they also partially made the game to really use the vision sensor
would single action pistons have enough power?
oh yes definitely. we used one for preloads during nothing but net and they were more than powerful enough
My plan is to play around with the vision sensor and give some good examples to my teams on how to use it.
how does this catapult work?
I’m pretty sure a puncher would work the best considering a flywheel takes a second to “heat up” and the catapult shoots at an ark while the puncher is precise and shoots in a straight line, remember nbn was made to shoot at an arch to make it in the basket not hit a target
None of them shoot in a straight line. Once it leaves leaves whatever launches it, they all travel roughly in parabolic paths determined by the speed and launch angle. The flywheel has the best chance at reducing the parabola closer to a straight line by getting lift from backspin (magnus effect).
Personally, for this game, I see a puncher as the best option simply given that it would not take many motors (The balls are extremely light) and the fact as it can be fairly compact. And with the need for some form of ball intake as well as a lift for the caps, I can see space efficiency being stressed upon. However, I do feel that there is another form of launcher that can be used. If we jump back to tossup, teams had piston actuated levers that shot the large balls across the bar. Given the fact that the balls are extremely light, I can see the use of pneumatics in this case being useful.
The problem I see with punchers is aiming. I imagine one would need an entirely separate mechanism to aim a puncher
Imagine this: you align the puncher in such a way that the ball can hit the highest goal by being near the back side of the field. In order to aim for the middle goals, the robot can simply move forwards to say the parking zones or even closer if it needs to. There is no need for using a motor to aim / change height of the puncher.
That seems like an interesting idea…Hard to perfect I’d imagine
+1 seems good, but hard
While this problem could be solved this way, you could get around having to drive around with a flywheel.
You could simply alter the speed of the flywheel to get different heights. While this would require intense programming to figure out where you are in comparison to the flag, it would save valuable time so you don’t have to drive forwards and backwards all the time.
It would also be hard to always get into the perfect position to aim the puncher.
I do not understand why everyone is so hell bent about using a puncher or flywheel this is exactly what happened last year with the dr4b, i do agree they are good options but I think there could be more out there, some people were talking about catapults which are easier to manipulate the high in my opinion, but I don’t think we should only be thinking about those 2 launchers.
Though I understand your point, flywheels and punchers are some of the most consistent launchers in vex. The catapult may work for some, but for the rest of us, punchers and flywheels are the way to go.
I get that, and I am not saying a catapult is the number one option that was an example but I don’t think we should be just taking inspiration from one game that had a different type of ball, I think we could be innovating the thought of launching a ball in vex further and possibly better if we tried new ideas.
Oh, I understand now. Your right, we should be more unique instead of making a meta like in the zone.