Here are a few pictures of our robot from last year.

We played a shrunk down version of the 2004 FIRST Robotics Challange game, \"Raising the Bar\".

http://fvc40.pbwiki.com/f/vex-robot-pics-5.jpg

The basic bot. Note that the arms fold back so they fit in the size limitations. The wheels strapped onto the arm act as a counter weight.

http://fvc40.pbwiki.com/f/vex-robot-pics-32.jpg

Another view. That little hook on top folds down and locks. We rigged it up so that when our "chin-up arm" started to move upward, the hook was released. The rubber band on it also allowed us to approach the chin-up bar even if we were going backwards.. The hook would just flip down as we went under it if we drove under the wrong direction.

http://fvc40.pbwiki.com/f/vex-robot-pics-53.jpg

We demo the ball grabbing arm. It was cool looking, it worked, but it was painfully slow to use. We removed it after the first day because it was catching on the goals and making it hard for use to go up the middle ramp to the chin-up bar.

http://fvc40.pbwiki.com/f/vex-robot-pics-18.jpg

Here you can see what we replaced the ball grabbing arm with. Just a simple bar of metal that we could swing around and use to knock capping balls off. For the drivers, the change was like going from a tank to a sports car. The ball grabbing arm weighed a lot.