View Full Version : World's Lightest Ramps
Munchskull
27-03-2015, 23:56
So half way through the first day of our district event today, I went with one of our mentors to buy supplies for a ramp. The requirements we had for this ramp were simple, it had endure constant usage for two days minimum, it had to quickly move totes to a flat position, and finally it had to be quickly built with only a pits worth of tools. Here is the kicker it had to weigh in at less than 1.25lb.
I am happy to say that we successfully built such a ramp. Its final weight is 1.1lb and works fast. It is made out of packing tape and pink shop foam from "Home Depot". This ultra light ramp is saving our team and has helped us up our performance.
This exprince has lead me to wonder, what is the lightest ramp you have seen and what was it made of?
How about 0 lbs? There are dozens of ramps available on the field...
Anupam Goli
28-03-2015, 00:21
How about 0 lbs? There are dozens of ramps available on the field...
But you get a foul for cutting a tote in half on the field! :rolleyes:
Munchskull
28-03-2015, 00:28
How about 0 lbs? There are dozens of ramps available on the field...
I understand the strategy of using a tote as a ramp. However I have yet to see my team keep the base tote from moving.
How about 0 lbs? There are dozens of ramps available on the field...
Those ramps dont weight Zero though. :rolleyes:
however much a gym floor weighs, or maybe a tote, since we use that too.
The other Gabe
28-03-2015, 01:24
So half way through the first day of our district event today, I went with one of our mentors to buy supplies for a ramp. The requirements we had for this ramp were simple, it had endure constant usage for two days minimum, it had to quickly move totes to a flat position, and finally it had to be quickly built with only a pits worth of tools. Here is the kicker it had to weigh in at less than 1.25lb.
I am happy to say that we successfully built such a ramp. Its final weight is 1.1lb and works fast. It is made out of packing tape and pink shop foam from "Home Depot". This ultra light ramp is saving our team and has helped us up our performance.
This exprince has lead me to wonder, what is the lightest ramp you have seen and what was it made of?
would the foam from your 2013 robot have worked similarly?
Munchskull
28-03-2015, 01:34
Most likely not. That was more of a packing foam we used on the bottom. What we made today was an actual constructed assembely that needs to be ridged but light. That is why pink shop isolation foam works well. It is way more brittle than the our 2013 cushion, that was like a giant pool noddle.
Just a clarification for others, our teams 2013 robot was just a climber so it had no wheels to drive with. Instead we opted to put a giant block of closed cell foam on the bottom just incase it fell. Lucky for us it only fell twice, both before season.
Dunngeon
28-03-2015, 02:05
Most likely not. That was more of a packing foam we used on the bottom. What we made today was an actual constructed assembely that needs to be ridged but light. That is why pink shop isolation foam works well. It is way more brittle than the our 2013 cushion, that was like a giant pool noddle.
Just a clarification for others, our teams 2013 robot was just a climber so it had no wheels to drive with. Instead we opted to put a giant block of closed cell foam on the bottom just incase it fell. Lucky for us it only fell twice, both before season.
There have been lots of lightweight ramp designs posted over the season, a simple search would yield most of them.
waialua359
28-03-2015, 02:24
For $10, you can go to Home Depot and buy materials for a ramp, have it weigh 2.8lbs, build it in 1/2 hour, help you score up to 5 totes more, and run your robot on 1 CIM per side on the drive motors (to make weight) and work.
Our driver said on Wed he wanted to build a ramp and I literally laughed.
I stand corrected.
1551 was weighing a carboard box to use as a ramp. They had a pound of weight to spare and it was under a pound, I'm not sure if they actually used it in a match.
Richard Wallace
28-03-2015, 06:40
4mm thick corrugated 'twinwall' polypropylene sheets can be purchased from Home Depot. One 3' x 6' sheet weighs ~3.5 lb per HD website, and I don't think you'd use more than a third of it to make one ramp.
Ask 469 if you see them -- I think their ramp is made of something similar. It worked well at St. Joe.
Nyxyxylyth
28-03-2015, 13:29
4mm thick corrugated 'twinwall' polypropylene sheets can be purchased from Home Depot. One 3' x 6' sheet weighs ~3.5 lb per HD website, and I don't think you'd use more than a third of it to make one ramp.
Ask 469 if you see them -- I think their ramp is made of something similar. It worked well at St. Joe.
It was almost a "FOR SALE" sign for added comedy. But that ramp was retired - the next one will be different.
wasayanwer97
28-03-2015, 14:15
Depends how loosely you define a ramp.
If your goal is to just get the totes to land correctly, all it takes is a sheet of some slick material in front of the chute to get the totes to land properly. The reduced friction against the edge allows the tote to just slide forward and land on its bottom rather than rotate about its edge and land on its front.
A 1/16 sheet of polycarb works really well. The only issue is that it'll slide around, so attaching some high grip material/tread to the bottom prevents it from moving too easily.
Our ramp weighs in at 0.4 pounds...pretty light I would say.
-Ronnie
Dragonking
28-03-2015, 17:41
Our ramp weighs in at 0.4 pounds...pretty light I would say.
-Ronnie
Our ramp also weighs about .4lbs
Sperkowsky
28-03-2015, 20:26
I understand the strategy of using a tote as a ramp. However I have yet to see my team keep the base tote from moving.
1796 pulled it off quite well.
Those ramps dont weight Zero though. :rolleyes:
Well of course the totes weigh something, but considering they add 0 weight to your robot, they officially weigh nothing;)
Depends how loosely you define a ramp.
If your goal is to just get the totes to land correctly, all it takes is a sheet of some slick material in front of the chute to get the totes to land properly. The reduced friction against the edge allows the tote to just slide forward and land on its bottom rather than rotate about its edge and land on its front.
This.
3408 deployed one at Inland Empire. It looked like some foam core (actually, call it a couple of old pit signs maybe) with half a pool noodle attached to the bottom of one of them and some light rope. (This was after the velcro on the bottom was removed...) That had to be pretty light.
How about 0 lbs? There are dozens of ramps available on the field...
Yes there certainly are, and they even come in 2 custom colors.
1796 pulled it off quite well.
They certainly did, and the invisible tether worked even better...Not once did I ever see them drive over it...Delivery smooth as silk too.
Dragonking
29-03-2015, 08:22
What have you guys found to be the best tethers that are both light but won't get tangles in the drive train?
Chris is me
29-03-2015, 08:35
*toot toot*
So obviously we're not the world's lightest according to this thread, but we built a proper ramp at 1.5-1.6 lbs. Made of lightened, corrugated display board, with just the bare minimum amount of 3/4" by 1/16" aluminum angle and plenty of 3M double stick tape, it did the job just fine. Dropped a stack on it, drove over it with the robot, grabbed it and folded it into our robot with our intake... no matter what we did to this ramp, as soon as we grabbed it off the field it sprung back to its original shape, ready for more. Never broke.
http://i.imgur.com/vu7P3oj.jpg
Ichlieberoboter
29-03-2015, 10:08
So obviously we're not the world's lightest according to this thread, but we built a proper ramp at 1.5-1.6 lbs. Made of lightened, corrugated display board, with just the bare minimum amount of 3/4" by 1/16" aluminum angle and plenty of 3M double stick tape, it did the job just fine. Dropped a stack on it, drove over it with the robot, grabbed it and folded it into our robot with our intake... no matter what we did to this ramp, as soon as we grabbed it off the field it sprung back to its original shape, ready for more. Never broke.
Wow. That is a nice ramp.
Dominick Ferone
29-03-2015, 11:08
Not sure of the exact weight of our ramp but its made from a trifold cardboard covered the top in whiteboard paper to give totes extra moment and consistency and two sign post stakes as legs with numbers attached on the sides.
Our tether on the other hand weighs about 2 pounds
Munchskull
29-03-2015, 12:57
What have you guys found to be the best tethers that are both light but won't get tangles in the drive train?
We found that 550 paracord works quite well. We drove over it with both 6in omni-wheels and tration wheels with no problems. our alliance partners also drove over it with 8in mecanum wheels light it was not even there. For .3lb you get about 40ft of tether. paracord is also dirt cheap and comes in bright colors.
Dominick Ferone
29-03-2015, 16:00
We found that 550 paracord works quite well. We drove over it with both 6in omni-wheels and tration wheels with no problems. our alliance partners also drove over it with 8in mecanum wheels light it was not even there. For .3lb you get about 40ft of tether. paracord is also dirt cheap and comes in bright colors.
We used paracord initially but it would catch the bolt heads for the mecanum wheels and wind up around the spacer and slow one side. This issue happed last year when our elastic tubing broke and did the same thing.
Lil' Lavery
30-03-2015, 11:36
We found that 550 paracord works quite well. We drove over it with both 6in omni-wheels and tration wheels with no problems. our alliance partners also drove over it with 8in mecanum wheels light it was not even there. For .3lb you get about 40ft of tether. paracord is also dirt cheap and comes in bright colors.
We used paracord as well. It would occasionally end up wrapped around our drive axles, but that only happened a couple times and didn't cause significant issue.
We built one that weighed in at .53 lbs. Not sure if it is what we will be going with though.
rick.oliver
30-03-2015, 14:11
About 1.8 lbs, including the tether. Made from PVC tubing and fittings, plus tape. Sprayed it with silicone. Made on Friday at CIR after we determined that we had a few pounds to spare.
Redesigned for QCR; up in weight; still PVC, but using Polycarb (0.030").
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