Robot Arm C

[questionguy]

From people who have seen Robot Arms before or are building them right now, is 7 motors too much and too risky to use?

[sj]

In my opinion the number of motors that you can use would depend on three things...

1) How likely are you to tie? The number of motors is a tie breaker, however you should use as many motors as needed to effectively score the most points and then work on reducing that number.

2) How well can these motors be implemented? Every joint in the arm may have a little bit of play that causes the arm to shake from side to side; Will the number of motors you need cause this play to be magnified and make the arm imprecise?

3) How hard is the arm to control? Can you have many motors and still effectively control everything between two people? This is the hardest part you can have 10 well made joints but you only have two people to control all of them.

[illusionist]

I'm a little unclear on this: Can the robot be pre-pogrammed, or does it have to be controlled by a competitor in real time?

That's a very interesting question. I'd think general rule #2 applies, but you should probably submit an official clarification request.

Would it be fine if I worded it like that?

[chalker]

I'm a little unclear on this: Can the robot be pre-pogrammed, or does it have to be controlled by a competitor in real time?

That's a very interesting question. I'd think general rule #2 applies, but you should probably submit an official clarification request.

Would it be fine if I worded it like that?

You might want to specify a little more detail. There are different 'levels' of preprogrammed (e.g. the entire sequence, just individual 'object' routines, etc.).

[dandaman]

Does anyone know if bluetooth is ok to use (the frequency is not labeled since it is a range of them)

[chalker7]

Does anyone know if bluetooth is ok to use (the frequency is not labeled since it is a range of them)

Submit an official clarification through soinc.org

[harryk]

Does anyone know if bluetooth is ok to use (the frequency is not labeled since it is a range of them)

It should be since it is 2.4GHz

[chalker]

Does anyone know if bluetooth is ok to use (the frequency is not labeled since it is a range of them)

Submit an official clarification through soinc.org

All Bluetooth devices by design operate in the 2.4 GHz range, which is explicitly allowed by rule 3.f.

[rnphoenix42]

What is everyone using for the actual structure of the arm? I was considering softening PVC and creating boards, like the person in this blog post http://www.diniro.net/fabbblog/bortolo.html but I'm not very comfortable with putting PVC pipe in my oven Any ideas?

[dandaman]

What is everyone using for the actual structure of the arm? I was considering softening PVC and creating boards, like the person in this blog post http://www.diniro.net/fabbblog/bortolo.html but I'm not very comfortable with putting PVC pipe in my oven Any ideas?

I''m just using a 1x2 piece of pine, and its working ok for me so far, I dont have it all the way done yet, but it doesnt flex too much.