Combo.Lock

Origin of Combo.Lock
The Combo.Lock concept was developed by 750 W Design and Engineering Officer Jacob Fischman, who when asked by other team members about how many motors were available for the robot's lift mechanism he replied none. The team could not believe that he had left them no motors in order to create one of the most vital parts of the robot. After a great deal of discussion and some rational argument the team managed to convince their D&E Officer that their design would still be strong after removing one motor from the intake mechanism. However, after some more careful thinking, and a few minutes of creative thinking, Jacob realized that there was a way to make the lift entirely passive, or what he refers to as ground assisted power transference. (A fancy term for using force applied when we move against the ground that is available to do work to an indirectly powered component). This is where project Combo.Lock came into fruition.

What is Combo.Lock
For all intensive purposes, Combo.Lock is a way of using drive motors in order to do work on a subsystem of the robot.

Key concepts of Combo.Lock

 * Drive motors do not interfere with subsystem Iron-man7.gif
 * Drive motors apply work on the subsystem
 * Reduces # of motors required on a functioning robot
 * Allows for the use of motor power for small, one-off mechanisms