Transporting very large robots?
 

So I have been trying to figure out how to transport robots that people might design to maximum height limit? Top of trailer can be restricting...not to mention a shipping crate to champs...unless there is something new about shipping that I haven't read? I can see this being a problem, laying the robot down can take up a lot of room and possible damage to robot. Disassembling it could also take a lot of teams tons of time if they don't plan to be modular. What are your thoughts?
-Ronnie

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

Well, for transportation, the robot has to be able to be easily transformed into transportation configuration, which has to fit in a 28x42x78, which isn't all too large.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

78" is very large when you're looking at standard doors and the fact that there's probably a cart of some height under it.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

I'm 5' 11" and still hit my head on our trailor....

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

In retrospect, that is actually quite high...still though, you could just set it down so it's only 28 inches high. six and a half feet is still quite long...I see your dilemma. Perhaps teams with limited transportation abilities should design around those? maybe tall robots should also try to fold down?

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

Even if I get my old bread truck running by competition season, it's only 73" inside height, and the rear doors are a bit less. The rear doors on my Suburban are less than 43" high.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

Does anyone see a problem here for shipping to champs?!?!

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

Yes! The max height is well over what I recall as the max height of a crate. I can't find the alleged "'Shipping Crate Construction' document posted with the FRC Administrative Manual", but I seem to remember the limit as something like 48" including the boards that go under to allow the forklift access.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

The minivan I used to have (Dodge Caravan, not the "Grand" Caravan) had a cargo area that was almost exactly 6.5 feet long with the seats removed. However, due to the shape of the rear door, it was shorter than that near the roof.

A Grand Caravan will hold a 4 foot x 8 foot sheet of plywood. I can't recall the exact height, but from what I recall, the back opening is not quite as tall as it is wide... about 3 feet, maybe?

If you're planning a large robot, it might be a good idea to measure the vehicles your team has available... or look around your community for a sponsor who could supply a trailer or cube van.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

The FedEx max crate size is 48x48x70. So your ship dimensions to worlds will need to be somewhat smaller than that.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

A standard door height is 80 inches but there may be a threshold at the bottom or closer arm at the top impinging on that. At the Northern Lights regional in Duluth, there are two doors that robots will need to traverse between the pits and the field.

I'm pretty sure one of them is more than 80 inches high, but I'm not sure about the other. Could be interesting times for queuing if some of the teams have to pull their robots off a cart to fit through the door.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

Either First is expecting us to use the shipping crate size we used last year (48x48x70) or they haven't posted new crate rules and dimensions for this year. If we have to use the 2014 dimensions then either you have to build your robot to fit in that size or be able to take part of it apart to fit that. I hope they clarify this soon as this is something teams need to know while designing.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

I've read that similar issues came up in 2007 (Rack n Roll) where you could have a 72" robot, but the crate was still the same size and somewhat shorter than your bot could be. Basically, you just had to deal with it (though crates were for every event, not just CMP).

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

That is a FedEx size, not a arbitrary First thing. I don't expect it to change.

Re: Transporting very large robots?
 

FYI for anyone going to the Windsor Essex Great Lakes Regional but don't know the layout: our load-in door is a large roll-up door that you could literally drive a truck through. The pits and arena are part of one large space that we divide up for the event, so the limiting factor for height while carting around a robot will be the rod-and-drape dividing the pits from the arena.