So I have a tray robot, and it is able to pick 8+ cubes. But after picking up and stacking about 2 full stacks of 7 to 8, the intake starts to struggle to pick up the same number of cubes. The intake seems to loose a bit of compression. I know the problem is not the motor, because the motor never stalls. Does anyone else have this issue? What can I do to prevent this from happening?
It could be the motor. It might not be hot, but it can lose power.
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Probably the motor. Are the intake rollers tensioned with elastics (so they can fold out)?
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Could you send pics of your intake?
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Remember I made a thread about this already
Try adding intake locks to not rely on rubber bands.
I’m sure someone else can link it.
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Yes @Sylvie I have seen the thread, but my intakes flip out from the top, so the compression is constant, I do not have a good pic now, but I will have one by 3 today.
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I’m betting the motors are getting tired. V5’s don’t have PTCs like the legacy motors, once they start to heat up they cut the maximum power output down by half as a safety measure instead. I’m betting that’s what’s happening.
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Would there be any way to fix this?
Run your intake less or up the torque on the rollers
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Depends. They’re should be a way but that issue can be caused by a allot of different problems. A picture would be helpful.
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That is true, friction could be a major problem in this case, a picture would be helpful.
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I will take a pic in robotics which is afterschool.
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Cool. Until then I’ll shotgun a few of the more common reasons.
Something on intake is twisted or bent the wrong way putting to much stress on the joints.
To steep of an angle on your tray.
Rollers aren’t lined up with the tray.
To much compression than what is necessary.
To much friction on the tray itself.
These are the ones I have seen the most.
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I have the same kind of intake as you (from the sounds of it) and instead of using rubber bands to keep it compressed our team actually is using some standoffs to keep it from overstretching. when you take pics I can help you troubleshoot the problems.
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Ok one possible problem I see with this intake that could cause major friction is the fact that there isn’t metal on both sides of the sprocket’s. With tight chain this can make the axels flex a bit and cause a lot of friction. Try adding metal on the other side as support.
Edit: the two metal sides should be connected, the easiest way would be standoffs. Also take off a bearing on the other c-channel to minimize friction.
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We had a similar problem where our motors would begin to burn out after getting a couple stacks of ten, or running auton repeatedly. What we had to do was adjust our lock, it was somehow putting a weird strain on the motors and causing us to barely be able to get 7. Locks and intake compression take a lot of time and tweaking, so just try some different things here and there.
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@James6555 yea looks like your cantilevering those rollers which I’d probably advise against. Over time, those axles might bend and wear away the pillow blocks. This causes friction, which burns the motors out. Supporting the axle from above and below the intake roller will help you avoid those problems.
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I cant necessarily tell, but it looks like your intakes dont flex out at all. Is this correct? If so, that can cause heat issues because it has to deal with more twisting and compression has to be perfect.
There isn’t really a good way to have the rollers flex out if they fold from top to bottom, which is actually better for compression. With side to side rollers, you overcompress and the play your talking about allows for stretch to optimal compression. With top down, if you find the optimal compression at the beginning, that same compression will stay consistent.
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