For the caps, do you guys plan to grab it on the core or the long flat sections?
I would say that the best way to manipulate the cap is grabbing along the wider point(not the core) and having a mechanism turn the cap 180 degrees and lift up to the lower or higher post or just turn it and put it on it’s side. The problem with that is that the caps won’t always have the core touching the field so we also need to devise a way to grab a cap at nearly any angle efficiently.
I might be wrong, but I think the caps are designed to self right them self when they are leaning on their edge. Not when they are standing on their edge, though.
I try to think of ideas outside of what other people are doing just so I can have some freedom in the design process for at least the early season, and an idea that I’ve had since the game was released was a mold to fit around the core, twisting it forwards and backwards with 360 degree capability, this way you’d be able to pick up tilted caps and simply flip them.
I’ve yet to make a protoype of this since I have end-of-the-year exams and all but when I do, I don’t expect to see perfection.
Exactly our thinking with the 180 degree turning device
I believe that this is correct
For early season, a simple fork can work well. The fork could be made of axels or standoffs and can be used to pick up, place down, and even flip over. I think a more flushed out intake could be something like a friction fit passive intake that holds the cap parallel to the ground and can turn over with a motor. This could be helpful for a. accuracy when placing and picking it up, and b. can quickly turn over caps on the high posts faster than a purely passive intake. I think my team might be doing something where the intake comes over the top of the cap, and gets pushed down into it. The cap is held in place with something that has a good amount of friction like tape or something.
I think fork. Also with grip they would work very well.
@375X Robotics How are you going to flip it with a fork? Do you want two sides?
this isn’t my picture or idea and i forgot which person posted it so i’m sorry about
that
but claws that can grab caps by the top of the core should be able to passively flip over caps if put on some freely rotating axle/screw
Has anyone thought of a 2:1 chain bar design yet? Caps only need to be in one of two positions: red up or blue up.
Building a simple chain bar lift would allow scoring from either side of the robot, depending on how far you rotate the bar. This would save on the extra complexity of an additional system, as well as the (possible) motor such a system would (possibly) require.
What @JamsG suggests is definitely a cool idea, though. Just remember that if that is an active system claw, wire management may turn out to be a nightmare.
@Alex241N Are you competing again this year? I haven’t seen you this active in a while.
Back on topic, I have been thinking that grabbing by the outer section (not the core) with some way to flip them, either left-right or front-back. That way your “fork” doesn’t have to be 6" long to reach the core safely.
Has anyone though of not using a claw? I mean, there weren’t mobile goal claws in itz, and caps rest on the ground in a relatively similar way.
Well if the wire twists one way enough, eventually it will have to go the other way 
It’s your life on the line when you ask your Coach for a new motor 
No, though I do wish I had the time. I’m just a little too far away from it all.
The insanely good dr4b doesn’t use a claw.
I was thinking about this and it could also be done this way probably more reliably, but it would take a motor.
the problem with slotting those c-channel onto the cap’s edges like that is trying to pick up caps that are slanted on the ground. if a cap was in a corner and slanted, i think it would be pretty difficult to move the caps out