Prototype the Drum Shooter/Kicker Mechanism
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- Laura, Nick, and Akhila worked on prototyping the new shooter mechanism after concluding that the wheeled shooter they had been working on previously would not work efficiently. It consists of a kicker that shoots the ball into and up out of a tube. The tests proved that the mechanism would shoot both of the balls over five feet, which is what is needed for the ball to go into the center goal.
- To start, we finished adapting the frame for the "whacker". We tied some surgical tubing to a U channel, which we used as our kicker. Then, we used a hose clamp to secure the other side of the surgical tubing.
- To test it, we manually pulled back the lever, and shot a ball horizontally. Gary shot the first ball without warning anyone, so we were all too scared to put the ball in the next few times. The ball went really far, and pretty hard, so we decided to try launching it vertically.
- It successfully launched vertically, reaching higher than the center goal, perfect for our strategy! For a more realistic prototype, we got a longer pipe, so the height was not effected by the ball not going through the tube. It still reached the center goal.
- With time running out, we decided to try and score a ball. We found a bent piece that would direct the ball into the tube. After many attempts with the big ball, which all failed due to inaccurate lineup, we decided to try a little ball. Finally finding the sweet spot, WE SCORED OUR FIRST BALL!!! We were all so excited. Sadly, we didn't catch it on video. (We eventually did get it on video, but it wasn't nearly as exciting)
- Next meeting we will attempt to prototype the more elegant drum shooter solution. If that doesn't work, we now have a working backup plan.
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