G04
 

We are working on our Level 3 climber and are quite worried about how to meet Rule G04 (reprinted below).

Obviously no one wants to tumble from Level 3 to the floor, but without power and special tools many of the ideas we have come up with are not looking good. Some of our thoughts (and their downfalls):

- Get a beefy worm gear drive
-> Would need power to reverse it
- Use a good number of CIMs
-> Would back drive when power lost and robot would fall =(
- Use a ratcheting mechanism of some sort
-> Unless we have a really tall person it will be hard to disengage from the floor
- Use a pneumatic piston to drive in a lock somewhere to hold the robot
-> We would have to drain the air and slide the lock out. ALso difficult without a tall person.



There seems to be a direct conflict between keeping the robot locked securely on the pyramid and removing it without power or special tools. Perhaps I am overlooking something simple and maybe you can help.

We are planning to submit a Q&A if we can't think of something good that allows us zero risk of falling off level 3 and meets G04.

-matto-



Rule G04:

After the MATCH, ROBOTS may only be removed from a PYRAMID under the following conditions:

A. by the TEAM while standing on the floor without special equipment,
B. unpowered,
C. and under the supervision of a FIRST Technical Advisor (FTA), FTA Assistant, Referee, or Field Supervisor.


Additionally, if any part of the ROBOT is in Level 3, TEAMS are required to attach a FIRST supplied belay line, detailed in Section 2.2.5, to their ROBOT to spot a ROBOT while the TEAM removes it from the PYRAMID.

Violation: YELLOW CARD

Re: G04
 

You may not need to unreal any sort of climbing mechanism if you use something like a hook to attach to the pole. Just lift up.

Otherwise, make the air release/ratchet accessible from the bottom of your robot and you shouldn't have a problem.

We are hashing out a plan for ours, but it will likely involve a big lever.

Re: G04
 

I've been waiting to see how this develops as well. I have no clue how they expect to attach a belay line to the top of a robot that is 6ft+ off the ground without using a step ladder. To assert that a step ladder is unsafe and cannot be used by teams but can by field staff seems rather hypocritical. I have the feeling that they haven't quite thought this through.

Re: G04
 

I'm curious as to how teams are planning on turning their robot off before disengaging from the tower.

Re: G04
 

In Q&A -

It would seem that you are not allowed to climb any higher than the tallest member of your team can reach.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this. I wonder what they consider "special equipment"? Would a 3' stick with a hook to disengage a ratchet be considered "special equipment"?

Re: G04
 

From my interpretation, that is exactly what they mean by special equipment. It look like it's time to recruit a tall human player.

Re: G04
 

It's rules like this that makes me glad that I'm 6' 5" and can reach the top bar.

Re: G04
 

Well since I am not 6'5"+, I consider myself physically handicapped. Good thing I own an artificial limb that measures 3ft long with a hook on the end. :D

Re: G04
 

I wouldn't say it's hypocritical, mainly because odds are, the event staff using a step ladder will be considered "trained staff"

Re: G04
 

I wouldn't count on this...the rule states that the robot will be removed "by the team" and "under the supervision of..." event staff (emphasis mine).

I asked the Q&A question quoted above, thinking that some assistance would be provided, but it seems that (from the response) that will not be the case. I would interpret that a team who needs assistance in any way getting their robot down will be issued the yellow card.

Re: G04
 

Our plan is to use hooks, as previously noted in Post #2, so the person can simply lift it off the pyramid. To keep the arm locked in place, we'll use something like this, with a 393 motor, an 84-tooth VEX gear, and some fishing line to unlatch it as we ascend.

Re: G04
 

The no special equipment rule sort of surprises me. I can remember 1114 in 2010 using a small custom built tool to safely unlatch their one-way latch from the tower without pinching fingers. Is something like that really outlawed in 2013?

Re: G04
 

as a kind of follow up to everything about the BELAY system; it's not meant to aid you in removing your robot, it's meant to ensure that the robot doesn't fall while you are removing it.

So, I suggest designing a trigger that you can reach to release your robot, and your BELAY attachment points to be closer to the bottom of your robot

Re: G04
 

As a mentor I really have a problem if a team cannot reach the top of the pyramid to unlock their robot. I would imagine that we will have girl's teams that will have great difficulty with this. The 90" pipe is just that... 90" or 7.5 feet above the floor... I am 5 11 and the tips of my fingers are almost exactly 8' off the floor. For a 5'6" student I am sure they will barely reach the pipe.

I would also like to state that this is a safety hazard, with or without the "belay system" This is the reason we have ladders.

I don't want my students to be put in a situation where they can't reach the third level to unlatch the robot. The

Where is the logic in not allowing a short team to climb the pyramid with their robot just to get a yellow card and then a red the 2nd time? Why design a game like this? (I don't mean students climbing on the pyramid...)

Just lifting a 155 lb weight up by a few inches from a height of over 5 feet is not going to be easy. Of course those of us with big male or female students (over 6 feet tall) can figure out how to do this... but it is inherently unsafe to be under this robot.... that includes the belay.

A belay can slip... it is a human interaction...
Ask any of us who have done climbing...
If a robot comes off the top and starts to drop... I will be surprised if the belay will catch it unless it is attached to the operator's body with a harness AND he/she knows what they are doing...they have to take in slack to their body harness point. Perhaps all of the field personnel will be specially trained and outfitted with the proper equipment to do this... but it is not how it was shown in the video...

If a belay slips.... the students or anyone under the robot gets hurt.

It makes sense to have the proper equipment on the field... such as ladders for the lifters that will put them out from under the robot so they can lift with their legs instead of pushing up with their arms/legs from underneath.

It is a travesty if teams get yellow cards because they are attempting to apply the proper safety precautions.

GDC please rethink this.... what is the point of the yellow card for a piece of safety equipment or any other means that allows the safe removal of the robot? Does it give a team an unfair advantage to do a safe removal?

Re: G04
 

I can see their reasoning here. For whatever reason, there's many dangerous things we can do but ladders are a huge liability and insurance issue. Additionally, allowing unregulated equipment onto the field can cause a safety hazard. I would not want to get whacked in the head by someone's hook removal pole in careless hands and close quarters.