"Falgor" (172)
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FalGor is the name given to all robots produced by Northern Force, Team 172 since the year 2003. The name is a combination of "Falmouth" and "Gorham" the two towns which support Team 172. The name is often colloquially used to refer to the team as a whole, although the official name for the team is "Northern Force."
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2003
The first "Falgor" was designed for the 2003 Stack Attack game. The design featured a low box design with 4 wheel drive, powered through chains from a set of Drill Motors. The manipulator was a simple two pronged claw, which moved on a vertical forklift style rail. This forklift rail had the ability to fold to horizontal, lowering the robot's profile. Despite a solid design, the robot did not place well at the BAE Systems Granite State Regional and was not selected for the finals.
2004
The 2004 rendition of FalGor was an unfortunate failure. Due to an overly complex and heavy lifting mechanism designed for the "Chin Up Bar" in the FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar game, as well as a worm gear based drive system, the robot never was capable of even moving itself. The worm gear units built to drive the robot had a tendency to freeze when the robot's momentum caused it to coast forward, and were plagued with various mechanical and electrical problems. After finishing poorly at regionals, the robot was disassembled and scrapped.
2005
The robot designed for the game Triple Play featured a very simple A-frame design, mounted on a four wheel drive kit of parts chassis. The drive train was powered by four CIM Motors, driving four wheels in a tank drive configuration. The rear wheels were also lifted slightly off the ground by a set of ball casters, in order to facilitate easier turning. The manipulator was a single bar of 8020 aluminum extrusion with a hook on the end to manipulate tetras. This arm was actuated vertically by a pneumatics actuator. This robot drove and functioned well, but was hampered by a high center of gravity, and at times driving too eratic for the ball casters mounted on the back of the robot. The 2005 Falgor remains intact as a demonstration robot of the basic FIRST design.
2006
The robot designed for Aim High was based on a standard kit of parts chasis, with a two wheel rear drive. Initially powered from a pair of two-CIM gearboxes, a modification at the competition reduced it's power to two large CIM motors, directly chain driven to the wheels. Early designs featured a front mounted vertical conveyor belt, feeding a ball bin and turret. The turret itself was a pair of wheelchair style wheels powered by a CIM motor, intended to pitch balls outwards, mounted in the apex of an A-frame. The A-Frame was powered by a pair of globe motors, able to rotate as well as pitch up and down. The thrower wheel was then fed balls from below by a pneumatic piston. This turret system, while elegantly designed an effective, proved very top heavy and slow compared to the competition. The entire turret assembly was removed after it was damaged in a collision, leaving only a conveyor belt to pick up and drop balls onto the ground. Due to the mid-competition strip down of the robot, it did not fare any better than the previous year's robot. After the Manchester competition, attempts were made to restore the turret, but the frame ended up being stripped down to serve as a test platform for sensors in the 2008 season.
2007
2007 FalGor, designed for the Rack 'n Roll challenge was by far the most successful robot to date. This FalGor was designed to score on all possible tasks on the field. The drive train consisted of four driven wheels at the rear of the robot, on an articulated mount for climbing ramps, and a pair of ball casters on the front. A fork lift style lift ran vertically on the front of the robot, unfolding via pneumatics to nearly 8 feet tall. The attached gripper was powered vertically by a Keyang Motor and was closed by a pair of pneumatic cylinders. The focal point of the robot, though, were a pair of ramps that were able to elevate other robots to 13 inches above the playing surface. These ramps, one on each side of the robot, were spring loaded, and fell open onto the ground with the release of a pneumatic actuated pin. For increased visibility, the ramps were painted a bright pink with the team numbers clearly marked. Due to some omni wheel or mecanum wheel designs, not all robots were able to climb the ramps at the BAE Granite State Regionals, and they went under-utilized. Nonetheless, 172 was selected by the 7 seed team, and went on to climb to the semifinals. In the post season, this robot attended the Beantown Blitz competition and fared almost the same, doing well in all rounds. The next fall at River Rage, FalGor itself was the 7th seed, and went on to win the competition. Although taking many hits and requiring heavy maintenance through the later rounds, the 2007 rendition of FalGor proved to be the most effective in it's line.
