My team does not have any flex wheels to use for an intake, what is a good alternative?
There are many possible intakes you could use for your robot.
Some options are…
Sprockets and Rubber Bands
I was paired with a team that used this at a local competition. It worked surprisingly well for them. Sorry for the grainy image quality but it’s the best photo I got.
Intake Flaps
This is another possible alternative and works quite well. It makes good contact with rings and picks them up quickly.
Hope this helps!
That is helpful! The one I was thinking about more was the second option, since we have a surplus of intake flaps and our sister team used up most of the rubber bands.
Clever. Mine might not have enough clearance to do that tho
Even most traction wheels can be used for a flex wheel replacement.
You can also use a conveyor belt and hook the ring without even using a wheel. You would need to pair it with a mechanism that would prevent the ring from getting knocked away by the hook. I would recommend using plexiglass for the purpose as it is flexible and you can create a concave surface for the ring to mold to and travel along in that brief moment that it’s being pushed up by the conveyor hook.
Woah. That… is… Not something I had thought of.
Make sure that the mesh that you use is legal. I almost didn’t pass inspections at worlds because my coaches bought similar, but not identical mesh.
There was also this idea as an alternative to a season where flex wheels were the dominant intake thing
You could also take gears and wrap rubber bands around it