VEX Spin Spinup 2022-2023
464 Skills Challenge RunTeams post questions, answers, robot reveals, ... on the forum. This is a great resource for keeping up to date.
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) had an challenge that also included shooting and picking up discs. The link above goes to a Chief Delphi site that evaluated different designs.
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VEX Spin Up Game VideoBelow is a more detailed game breakdown |
Catapult Ideas
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Robot Ideas
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VEX Spin Up Robot Reveals
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Hero Bot 2022-2023 |
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String Launcher |
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Spin Up Tournaments
FRC Robots with Disk Shooters 2013
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FTC Robots 2020-2021
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Disc Shooting Mechanisms
Linear Path Shooting MechanismsNotes from Chief Delphi on Linear Path Shooters (FRC 2013)
-The linear shooter is similar to the curved path shooter, except its path is straightened out. Commonly using 2 wheels (though 1 wheel, 3 wheel, and belt driven variations have been seen) in a linear path, using the first one to accelerate the disc before the second one brings it up to top speed and fires it out. -The linear path shooter is somewhat simpler in nature, being just a straight path for the disc to follow. |
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Circular Path Shooting MechanismsNotes from Chief Delphi on Circular Shooters(FRC 2013)
-This variation of the wheeled shooter consists of a single wheel surrounded by a curved path. The disc enter the path, and is swing around by wheel, giving it greater contact time with the wheel as opposed to a linear shooter. This allowed the disc to build up greater speed before being shot. -Because the Circular Shooter design only required a single wheel to power (whereas most linear shooters use 2+), the design was just as effective when shooting, but required relatively fewer resources |
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Punching & Toy Shooting MechanismsSince Nerf introduced its first dart gun, the Sharpshooter, two decades ago, the company’s engineers have struggled to find ways to significantly advance their toys’ range beyond the original 35 feet. They repeatedly refined the firing mechanism and even added motors, but even their best improvements only added about 10 feet. Last year, they redesigned both the launch mechanism and the ammo (discs, not darts). The range of the resulting Vortex line and its newest glow-in-the-dark edition, the Lumitron: 65 feet.
AMMO: Nerf engineers experimented with 50 disc shapes before settling on the final design, which mimics the shape of a Frisbee. Each 1.5-inch disc consists of a domed core made from flexible plastic surrounded by classic Nerf foam. The designers set the bulk of each disc’s 2.6 grams on its bottom lip, creating a lowered center of gravity that keeps the flight path level. Nerf coated the entire disc with a quick-reacting, glow-in-the-dark phosphor that will last for at least 500 firings before wearing away. MAGAZINE: The Lumitron’s 8.5-inch clip holds 10 discs. When a shooter slides the cocking handle backward, it pulls an attached plastic loading arm out of the loading chamber. With room open above, a spring at the base of the clip pushes the top round up into the chamber. Sliding the cocking handle forward pushes the same arm up to nudge the disc into firing position. A white LED at the base of the spring and four others near the top of the clip activate the glow-in-the-dark phosphor on the discs within two seconds. TRIGGER LOCKOUTS: Two spring-loaded pins attached to the trigger prevent shooters from firing non-Nerf objects, such as bottle caps and poker chips. One pin at the top of the firing chamber depresses when an object the exact height (half an inch) of the disc presses against it; another at the bottom of the chamber depresses when the width requirement (1.5 inches) is met. If both aren’t depressed, the trigger can’t move. LAUNCH MECHANISM: Loading a round also readies the firing arm. One end of the four-inch plastic finger attaches to a torsion spring (similar to the ones in mousetraps). Cocking the gun pulls the finger back against the spring, and the finger’s tip catches on the trigger. When the shooter pulls the trigger, the finger springs forward and hits the disc, making contact slightly off center to start a counterclockwise spin. BARREL: The spinning disc generates a centrifugal force that keeps it flying straighter and therefore farther. To maintain the initial spin and flight path, engineers added about an inch of ribbing on the side of the barrel. When the disc runs along those ribs, it gains traction that keeps it spinning. In tests, Nerf engineers determined the ideal barrel length: 4.875 inches. If it were a quarter-inch longer, the disc would bounce too much in the barrel and lose speed. If it were slightly shorter, the disc could exit the barrel at an angle and wouldn’t fly straight. |
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Disk Gathering Mechanisms
Notes from Chief Delphi on Vacuum Disc Gathering (FRC 2013)
-This floor pick-up variant consisted of a series of rollers around an opening in the robot’s mechanism that would suck in discs as soon as they came in contact with it. -Floor pick-ups are always advantageous in FRC; however, the apparent difficulty of picking up discs had most teams opting out of it, in lout of a solely feeder fed robot. The Vacuum Floor pick up was a fast system that allowed teams to reduce their shooting cycle time by acquiring discs from around the pyramid. And, most importantly, gave a team access to impressive 5-disc autonomous, and the even more dominant, 7-disc autonomous. |
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Technical Videos |
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