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.
line running next to it rather than towards it so a contact switch was used
to determine when the robot should drop balls.