I had the idea of building a catapuld using pneumatics to score in the high goal. Since we do not have them yet, does anyone know if this is feasible (using at most 4 cylinders)? I know this is possible in V5RC and FRC, but I have never heard of doing this in IQ.
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YouTube video
Another video
Pneumatic aided catapult
I admit, it was more challenging to find them.
Likely because the design isn’t the most efficient
I wouldn’t recommend using Pneumatics solely for the catapult.
I believe they could be used for a PTO, to aid the catapult, while being used as a tensioner, and to change the direction of a flywheel.
I do not think it will be as good for a catapult.
Feasible? Why sure. Winner robot, maybe. Practical, no. Rubber bands are your best motive power source.
Yes look it up On YouTube I saw a team and have tested myself with two cylinders and it worked great.
I did a search: 4 topics. only one was IQ and did not have my answer
I forgot about Youtube
I have my reasons. I only need a catapult to shoot in the high goals. I have a seperate mechanism for low goal.
I don’t want hthe extra stress rubber bands exert on the robot. Lighter robot = Better acceleration.
Was this for Rapid Relay? Could you give me more details?
Ok, rather than doing a rubber band tension mechanism or a two stage rubber band setup, adding 4 pistons and a tank was a much lighter robot. Got it.
All that plastic with holes in it is really heavy. The use of triangle bracing is a pretty arcane engineering concept.
Happy you were able to make it work, can’t wait to see the reveal video!!
Yes this was indeed for rapid relay. It was two cylinders in a catapult and when the team wanted to shoot to high goal they would activate them and use it as a spring for more tension. After a bit of tuning it worked pretty well. No additional bracing needed.
I forgot pneumatic wern’t made of air… I still don’t want the stress on the robot. I think that is what is causing my drivetrain to drift (also innovate award possibility)
Sure possibility, but it seems unlikely you could win it with just a different robot, it would have to work well
Are you 100% getting pneumatics?
It might make more sense to save the money for something else
Sorry to revive but my team 30394A did this.
Fun fact, my team won innovate for a wall stake mechanism that we didn’t even have on our robot for the competition (It caused too many problems before the matches started). It just has to be a unique and well documented design.