Intake System

[Aletrioli]

This issue will span picking up and placing samples.

[Aletrioli]

Side roller intake: Using two motors, two sprockets would be rotated with surgical tubing extending from them. When they rotate, they would be able to pull blocks in and push them out. To hold the object, a ramp would be needed.

Pros:

• Side roller intakes can generally grab and release items quickly and efficiently

Cons:

• Given how wide the design needs to be in order to take in blocks and fit a roller on each side, it may be difficult to fit within the size constraints
• The side rollers have many components, which would weigh down the arm significantly
• The design is expensive component-wise, as it would require two motors. It could be adjusted to use gears, but given how much space is in between the rollers, that would be difficult
• A separate system would be needed for hanging specimens

Overall: A side roller intake would not be a good option, because although it may be good at grabbing blocks, it poses too much of a design-headache given all the components it requires and the weight that it would add to the robot.

[Aletrioli]

Multi-roller intake: Using one motor attached to a hex shaft which is lined with flap wheels, the hex shaft is rotated letting the flap wheels spin either to pull objects in or push them out. To hold the object, a ramp and walls would be needed.

Pros:

• Low cost component-wise, only requiring one motor, a hex shaft, flap wheels, and a few structure pieces
• Able to grab and release items quickly and efficiently
• Doesn't care about orientation of block

Cons:

• A separate system would be needed for hanging specimens

Overall: A multi-roller intake would be a viable option, as it is efficient and reliable, as well as conservative of resources.

[Aletrioli]

Claw: Using one servo and gears to have 2 gears rotating in opposite directions, extensions open and close around an object.

Pros:

• Very light-weight
• Does not take up a motor slot
• Would be able to grab and hang specimens as well as

Cons:

• Not as efficient at picking up objects as roller systems
• Requires more precision than a roller system
• May drop the object

Overall: A claw would be a passable option, but has a number of flaws. A claw is too much slower than rollers, and requires too much precision on the part of the driver. As a result, while we will likely need a claw to hang specimens, it should not be our primary intake method.