This is the conveyor belt design for our robot, is this viable? Note: Drawing is horizontal for simplicity. The actual conveyor is tilted.
That appears to be a semi-reliable method. I have seen several teams use this approach. If you double up the intake flaps on your conveyor belt and space everything out perfectly, I think it should work.
This would work for its intended purpose. I would suggest using some sort of compliant material for the thing that pushes the ring. While testing, I found that if it is solid and not compliant, there are specific geometries that could jam the entire system.
The question here would be whether it is better or similar in performance compared to current designs. This concept is already p similar to hooks and it requires an entire plate of plastic to work (which if plastic limit is a consideration would affect the viability).
This design looks to me like it had a hood in mind.
not plastic. I would use angle pieces on either side.
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