I am curious about how other coaches expose their students to different types of lifts. In vrc the kids are very active on the forum with the different types of lifts and they have already come to a consensus in a way. I built an 8 bar as an example and a number of students took off from that design and made a number of neat things. I even made a dr4b and it was impressive to them but way too much for them to attempt before the year runs out.
I don’t want to lead them to much, but I also feel like there are some basic things they need to be exposed to. Looking for materials for them to see online hasn’t really helped, and seeing things firsthand really helps.
I like this video from one of jrp62’s students. With VEX IQ something simple like this is a great start - the kids can figure out the rest. Some of the Hexbug VEX kits have some interesting mechanisms if you have parents who buy stuff like that for holidays, birthdays, etc.
I concur with what as been said already: YouTube videos, past games, etc. I have my kids look at these lifts on VEX bots then we figure out how to “IQ” them. We’ve had success with 4 and 6 bars. I know some teams at worlds have pulled off successful scissor lifts too (we’ve never tried). Unlike VEX, the plastic in IQ has limitations with regard to supporting weight and strength. Supporting the weight is the bigger challenge for our kids than actually building them. I attached one a team built last year (before they changed designs). It was based off of a VEX design. Once we put the vertical beams where we did we were able to figure out how to add the gears in there. The arms are pinned to those 60 tooth gears you see.
One of the things that has worked for us in the past is building sample lifts on mock drivetrain chassis’. Build like 5 or 6 different simple lifts that the kids get to touch and manipulate with their hands. The kids will be naturally curious about them, but you’ll still want to question them about the differences noted in the video. To do this successfully you will need a lot of parts and time to build the samples.
A couple words of caution - don’t introduce lifts too soon in the season, especially for kids that are new to robotics. What you’ll end up with is little robots with big honkin lifts that aren’t needed. It is better to have the kids start with a scoring strategy for a simple drivetrain that has no lift, no claw, and no way of manipulating the game pieces other than pushing them. Once they have that mastered then move on to something that can grasp the game pieces, but cannot lift them. Then introduce lifts.
