[Strategy and design] Robots made to climb up the corner
 

This is a quick sketch-up of a robot I thought up a while back, designed to go up the ramp via the corner pole. The robot simply drives into the pole and the angle in the front pushes it up the pole to initially leave the ground in the front, while the back wheels keep pushing. Therefore you completely get into position by doing nothing more than just driving forward.

As for how to climb up, after REACHING that position, I have yet to come up with anything. But I just wanted to share an idea I had and make a thread for anyone else thinking of anything else like this

Re: [Strategy and design] Robots made to climb up the corner
 

We had considered something similar until recently. If you work out the mechanics of driving into the 60deg leg of the pyramid you'll find that you need a large portion of your weight on the rear wheels (70%) and get nearly perfect traction out of the rear drive wheels (0.9-1.0 coefficient of friction without any slippage). These numbers can be massaged based on design, but to me it seems VERY difficult to deal with.

I don't want to discourage you from attempting a design like this, it has merits, but it would pay to carefully work out traction and force requirements before you totally commit to it.

Re: [Strategy and design] Robots made to climb up the corner
 

Our initial approach is similar. The only thing is, with the position of our bumper and rear wheels, the bumper or frame will start dragging on the floor before the robot reaches the 60 degree angle of the pole. So, the lifting mechanism must take over from there, allowing for the mismatched angle. Still, it's a lot closer than staying on the floor, so the lifter doesn't need to handle as much of an angle difference.

Re: [Strategy and design] Robots made to climb up the corner
 

We looked at that design with one or two conveyor belts of magnets to continue the drive up the corner. Remember that when you reach the top, your robot will be facing 60 degrees upward, and the shooter you have drawn will face almost perfectly straight up, not towards the pyramid goal!

Mike