@FRC973 Also, how long does it take for your flywheel to get up to speed? A couple seconds, then 1 in-between shots?
Thatās about what mine is. Obviously you want it to be as fast as possible, but if you can get that I think thatās pretty solid. Iāll be looking out for those pictures.
ok! Thank you so much for helping me with this
Yeah mines doesnāt immediately stop, so I think Iām good on friction
YAY If I put my flywheel up at an angle where my brain kinda keeps the motor up, if it goes to the middle half-square of one of the sides where there is no plastic sheet, I can get it in the High Goal at max speed
If the ball is compressible I would recommend somehow figuring out a single flywheel with a hood for better control over where the ball will go (if that is possible in VEXIQ)
If this canāt be possible, I might suggest better methods for shooting the ball in vex iq:
I made a single flywheel for pitching in as a demo to some students Iām mentoring and it was a nightmare. Besides the main flaw of being relatively inaccurate compared to a double flywheel, IQ doesnāt have legal lexan or anti-slip mat so the only way to make a hood flywheel legal is to use hexbug plastic sheets that @CautionTape has used.
I think a double catapult is much much better than a single or double flywheel
I in no way meant to convey that a flywheel was the best way to get balls in the high goal. I have done a lot of different designs and a flywheel actually came out in the middle, not near the top. I agree with what @Hao_16688C said:
In comparison to Rise Above, I have found that a double flywheel was similar to the three arm robot, and I think that a double catapult is similar to the Razorbill, possibly even the hugger robot.
While it is true that a different mechanism is better than a flywheel, a puncher like those used in Bank Shot arenāt nearly powerful enough to get it in the high goal. One reason for this is that the balls are compressible, which means that they would absorb a good amount of the punch from a puncher. And Bank Shot punchers also arenāt powerful enough to get it all the way up in the high goal. Also, in Bank Shot the goal was virtually 2D because of the backboard. This is a 3D goal, much like the one in FRC 2017 but a little bigger. In FRC 2017, many teams solution to an inaccurate flywheel was to just shoot a huge amount of balls. This wonāt work in VEX IQ because you need to make every shot. This is because it is so easy to score all the balls, and one missed shot is the equivalent of missing a high hang (and getting a low hang).
Also like @Hao_16688C said, it is a nightmare to build one of those in VEX IQ, and even if you did get it work, youād probably want it to be able to go under the bar, meaning youād have to be very creative with height. Additionally, VEX IQ motors arenāt very powerful, and hooded flywheels need a lot of power.
Anything can be strong enough with enough structural support and a good gear ratio
But yea, I didnāt think a single flywheel would be that optimal in VEX IQ due to the restricted parts, so I feel as though a multi-catapult may be a better option for mass-punching multiple balls.
Video of 2 balls in High Goal too
That looks awesome. The main part is that it can get it into the high goal, so nice job on that.
One thing you can do to decrease friction even more is to put skinny spacers anywhere where a shaft collar or a gear that is spinning touches a piece that is not spinning. These prevent the rubber of the shaft collar and the plastic of the gears from creating a lot of unnecessary friction.
Skinny spacer
Washers, I think theyāre called
Yes, they are called washers. That is why I put the picture in my last post in case there was any confusion as to what I meant because different people call them by different names (I call them washers, spacers, donuts, little circles, and many other things when I am building).
Iām trying to make it funnel right now, to make it more accurate
@FRC973 I put some spacing between the wheel and the 12x12 so the middle of the wheel hits the middle of the ball, and now it is extremely powerful. But now, if it is up at the low goal bar, no plastic sheet, it almost always fails, unless I feed it in pretty slowly. Any advice?
Can you be more specific on what you mean by
Iām not totally sure what the situation is, so if you could send a video or something that would help a lot! Thanks.
hm, well it hits the plastic sheet, and bounces off. Since I am hand-feeding it, if I hand-feed it normally, it bounces off, and if I feed it in kinda slowly, it goes in. But feeding it in slowly is too slow. Is that specific enough?
Also, I attached a motorized feeder to the flywheel and it shoots less far now. Does your flywheel feeder stop touching/no longer manipulating just when the ball touches the flywheel and goes flying? Because that is now what I believe that your robot has.
P.S. Congrats on 104! It seems to me(a little bit) that you improved the speed.
Sorry, Iām still not quite sure I understand your problem. Does it shoot too low? Or does it shoot too horizontally? Again a video would be very helpful if you can get one. From the details that you gave, I would say that it is important to keep in mind that a consistent loading of the ball into the flywheel is important for a consistent shot.
Yes, I fine-tuned my flywheel so the loader roller lets go of the ball just as it comes into contact with the flywheels. This not only makes for a more consistent shot because the flywheels will contact all the balls for the same amount of time, but it also makes for a more powerful shot because the roller isnāt holding the balls back.
Thanks! Yes, I did make the robot faster for the 104 point video.
Yeah too low, hits the middle of plastic sheet on the high goal