Intakes
Contents
Description
(description of mechanism)
Design Considerations
Touch It, Own It
"Touch it, own it" is a goal or principle used when designing and evaluating intakes. The moment a "touch it, own it" intake comes in contact with a game piece, it is "owned" by the robot such that it will never lose grip, fall out, or be stolen by another robot. It is not a measurable metric, and is seen as somewhat of a buzzword.
Effective Intake Area
The effective intake area is the size of the area in front of the robot where reliable intaking can happen. The larger the effective intake area, the more easily game pieces can be acquired and scored. For a tank drive robot, measuring the width of the intake (parallel to the front bumper) is more important than measuring its length (perpendicular to the front bumper). For a swerve drive, the critical measurement is the total ground area under the intake where reliable intaking happens.
Intake Speed
Assuming that a roller intake is being used (as it almost always should), the surface speed of the roller(s) should be fast enough that the robot can pick up a game pieces when driving forward at full speed. For "single-contact" intake designs like the Intakes#Top_Roller, that means that the surface speed of the roller should be 2-4x the top speed of the robot. For "dual-contact" designs like the Intakes#Top_and_Bottom_Roller and Intakes#Side_Rollers, each roller's surface speed should be 1-2x the robot's top speed.
Intake Deployment
Major Types
Over Bumper
Description
When to Use
Notable Examples
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Through Bumper
Description
When to Use
Notable Examples
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Top and Bottom Roller
Description
When to Use
Notable Examples
Link to Info | Link to Info | Link to Info |
Top Roller
Description
Dustpans
When to Use
Notable Examples
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Side Rollers
Description
Dustpans
When to Use
Notable Examples
Link to Info | Link to Info | Link to Info |
Pinchers
Description
Dustpans
When to Use
Notable Examples
Link to Info | Link to Info | Link to Info |