i just wanted to ask if, for the flywheel of a robot if a vertical flywheel is usable since I didn’t see many of them in nothing but net
well, if you plan on throwing the ball directly up, then sure why not.
I personally think that vertical (single) fly wheels are more acurrate and have better spin than horizantal double flywheels, but at the end of the day it comes down to build quality.
A vertical double flywheel would allow you to aim higher or lower by adjusting the relative powers of the wheels to get more or less spin. A horizontal double flywheel would have to vary its power to control the arc of the ball which seems like it would take more tuning and would also make shots at lower flags quite a bit slower.
During NBN the main design in my area was vertical flywheels.
Vertical flywheels are generally more space efficient and I have found the accuracy to be greater.
Disclaimer build quality is very important to either design
Vertical flywheels are the only efficient way … with how short these shots will be relative flywheel speeds wont change height noticeably. If you pick one launch angle and then vary your distance and flywheel speed you have the same effect… but a puncher on a worm gear or something like it seems very viable possibly better than a flywheel idk.
Tbh single flywheels are the only way of being able to flexibly shooting both high and low targets with one motor (v5) from anywhere on the field.
In nbn we had a vertical flywheel, we also had a slope above it so
we can aim the balls easier, if this can pivot it would be easier to aim then changing speed of a horizontal
Definitely not. Perhaps the most popular. Perhaps the easiest. But definitely not the only way to have this flexibility with a single motor.
Double flywheel = bad. We had one for NBN and wish we didn’t.
+1
If you consider the sport of baseball a single flywheel would throw the equivalent of a fastball which flies straight and the spin of the ball counteracts the pull of gravity. A double flywheel, where both wheels are moving at the same speed, throws a knuckle ball where it is hard to determine the direction the ball will travel because it doesn’t have a spin.
Where my example loses strength is that baseballs have stitching that affects the aerodynamics and I’m not sure how spin will affect the TP balls.
Our kids had one team with single vertical and one team with double horizontal. Both teams did well with those designs, won state and went to elim at worlds. The vertical was undefeated In its world division. Vertical was more for lob into the net and horizontal was more of a direct hi speed trajectory. They worked with PID and bang-bang control and modified bang bang worked very well with fast response. Build quality was a huge must in keeping motors running well without PTC tripping
I suspect that irregularities from the deformation of the plastic over time (according to climate and how they are used, of course) will ultimately make them less predictable at higher speeds, with or without spin. I know it’s a far-fetched example, but look at wiffle balls. When you hit them with a bat, they go in seemingly random directions because they’re light plastic and are deformed easily.
Or you could do a double vertical flywheel and just run the top wheels at a slower speed than the bottom ones to change the spin.
Don’t forget that wiffle balls are significantly asymmetric. It really isn’t the deformation; they won’t deform that much when thrown, for example. It’s the aerodynamics around and inside the ball with asymmetrical holes.
Single flywheels are so much better than double ones. Saves: space, motors and the hassle of trying to tune a double flywheel. There also a lot easier to build and manage. Single flywheel = good
The very 1st generation of vex single flywheel.
https://vexforum.com/t/8059a-robot-in-1-day-singapore-vex-edition-reveal-more/29897/1
And seriously, there are lots of resources abt flywheels or puncher, etc in the forum.
I really encourage anyone that was not in nbn to do some homework and look through some of those nbn threads.
You have to consider how hard it will be to switch the flags, Im positive that single flywheels have the ability to switch the flags from a very short range of shooting but the amount of spin they put on the balls combined with how light the balls are i think it will be a challenge to get enough force to switch the flags from a distance. Also keep in mind the steep arc most single flywheels but on the balls. If you are going for shooting from any point on the field i would recommend a different type of shooter but for close range single flywheel is definitely a viable option.
but will a double flywheel give the ball more power than a single flywheel? If it does, then maybe do a double flywheel with the top flywheel at a semi-variable speed (ie a transmission geared to the bottom that switches back and forth depending on distance/height etc).