Ball Dispenser

The ball dispenser was used to hold balls and release them at the appropriate time. It consists of a funnel, PVC tube, and a door lock motor. When fully extended, the door lock motor blocks the balls from exiting the dispenser. When the motor retracted, the balls are free to roll out. The angle of the tube (36˚) was selected so that the center of the top of the tube would lie right underneath the game’s ball dropper. The funnel was added to the top of the tube in order to provide more ball storage as well as increase the area where the ball dropper could successfully drop balls into the robot.

Different goals had different triggering methods for the ball dispenser. Since Goal 1 had a line of tape leading directly up to it, the robot relied on its tape sensors to know when to drop the balls. Goal 3 had a
line running next to it rather than towards it so a contact switch was used to determine when the robot should drop balls.

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