What is the best way to pick game elements up off the floor?

The best way to pick up game elements off the floor depends on the size and nature of the elements.

For small game elements, active intakes are generally more effective than passive intakes . Horizontal intakes, which rotate on a horizontal axis, are suitable for intaking multiple small game elements at once .

For large, unwieldy game elements, claws are extremely useful . Vertical intakes, which rotate on a vertical axis, are more controllable and excel at picking up large game elements one at a time .

When designing an intake, it is important to ensure it can consistently control game elements, preventing them from flying out if too fast or jamming if too slow . Compliant wheel intakes are generally more effective than solid wheel intakes due to their adjustability and forgiveness for different game element orientations and intake angles . Surgical tubing is a recommended method for picking up nearly any game element, offering more friction than zip ties . An efficient intake should collect elements quickly, ideally within a few seconds, and move them along the shortest possible path to reduce cycle time .

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Principles of an Intake > Controllability

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The intake must be able to consistently control the game elements. For example, if the intake is too fast and the collection box is not well designed, then game pieces might fly out. If the intake is too slow, it may jam itself when contacting the game elements.
It is possible for pieces to get jammed at an unreachable angle, especially when using wheeled intakes. If this occurs, ensure that the driver can jar the stuck element loose to avoid having a disabled robot.
Optimally, the game elements should follow a certain path each time if funneling is done correctly.
It is best practice that the driver can see the game elements which are being controlled. This can be done through using clear plating such as Lexan.

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Passive Intake/Claw

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Passive intakes are mechanisms in which the driver must pick up individual items, usually by actuating some sort of gripper, which holds the game element.

Claws are the most common sort of passive intake and probably one of the first mechanisms that jump to mind during brainstorming. Unlike most intakes, claws can be made with only servos, and thus don't require valuable motor slots.

This is not to say there are no disadvantages; notably, unlike intakes, when you pick up something with a claw, it isn't easy to transfer the collected element to a separate scoring mechanism. For this reason, in most cases, claws double as both a collection method and a scoring method.

Claws are extremely useful for picking up large, unwieldy elements that cannot be controlled by active intakes. For example, the relic in Relic Recovery would be much harder to control using a more active intake; so teams used a claw.

Attention: However, claws are outclassed by active intakes for picking up small game pieces in nearly every game.

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Types of Intake

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Horizontal/Top Intake A horizontal intake generally is a wider style of intake that has the intake rotating on a horizontal axis or plane. Horizontal intakes are generally used for intaking smaller game elements, as these types of intakes can control more than one piece at a time. Horizontal intakes have been used successfully in games such as Res-Q and Rover Ruckus, where teams needed to pick up small cubes and balls from the floor.

Vertical Intake A vertical intake typically has wheels or other intake components rotating on a vertical axis (the z-axis). Vertical intakes are more controllable, as they can only pick up one element at a time. Vertical intakes excel at picking up large game elements which would be impossible to control more than one piece at once, such as the foam glyphs in Relic Recovery.

Below are different implementations of horizontal and vertical intakes:

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Types of Intake > Roller and Wheeled Intakes > Solid Wheel Intake

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Solid wheel intakes use wheels such as grip and traction wheels to pick up game elements. They can be effective in picking up large game elements which do not have much tolerance difference.

However, compliant wheel intakes generally will be more effective because compliant wheels offer more adjustability and forgiveness for the game elements. Compliant wheels also accounting for different game element orientations (the game pieces can get rotated when being controlled) and intake angles (the orientation of the game piece before it reaches the intake).

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Types of Intake > Tubing Intakes > Zip Tie Intake

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Instead of using surgical tubing, some teams opt for heavy zip ties instead. This can work, but we recommend surgical tubing as it is one of the most tried and tested methods for picking up nearly any game element. Zip ties lack the friction of rubber tubing.

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Principles of an Intake > Efficiency

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The key to any successful robot is cycle time. Reducing cycle time by having an efficient intake will lead to major improvements in score. A good intake should take no more than a few seconds to successfully collect the needed elements.

For example, in Relic Recovery, the best intakes often had a <3 second collection time for two game elements, and in Rover Ruckus a 1 second collection time was desired at the highest level. - A key rule to remember in FTC is the shortest distance rule: how can you get scoring elements from A to B in the shortest distance?

The answer is usually one or two straight lines. The closer the scoring elements follow this path, the faster they will go from collection to deposit. Don't make overly long routes unless needed.

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