FIRST Robotics Team 236

This was the first option we explored for the climb, for maximum points, all 3 robots had to climb up on an 8 foot bar. To do this, we tried to implement two detachable hooks on the top of a scissor jack moved with a linear actuator. This would allow the robot to attach and then move away for other robots to climb. This design was also very compact on the robot. Unfortunately, the system was not robust enough for competition and was difficult to place on the bar. Because of these issues the scissor jack as never used in competition.

This is the final climber design we used, it was a telescoping with two segments and a hook that was spring loaded to flick forward. It was not as fast and didn't have as many features, however, it was strong and very reliable.

This season I was the leader of the hatch placement team, we were tasked with placing these 17 inch acrylic disks onto hook and loop tape from 1 foot up to 8 feet above the ground. after a lot of discussion we opted for a device that held the disk with hook and loop tape and released it with pneumatic.

This is the final device that we took to our first competition, it had many advantage over existing systems, it could place hatches at an angle to the surface and was very robust. We believed it to be our final product, when we made it to our first competition, however, we were informed that it violated one of the rules since if you put the device at its highest extent it could project the hatch further than 2 feet. We lowered the pressure on the pneumatic system as a quick fix but knew we needed a redesign before the next competition.

This is the final design we used, it was a design we had seen at competition then adapted and modified for our robot. It bolted right onto the original framework and was equally as robust as the previous design and was deemed legal by the FRC staff, it worked very well throughout the rest of the competition.