Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

Has anyone made the Hanging Bar and tested to see if the all wood construction will hold up a robot? To me it looks like the dowel rod could break or the whole thing could bend causing the height to be lower than it should be.

Also, does the team version Hanging Bar fit well into the team version Castle?

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

Our team has the element built from hosting a kickoff event, I have personally tested the dowel rod with the same concern. I am glad to say that it was able to hold my 170 pounds for 3 pull ups (very scientific) but the dowel rod should be sturdy enough.

as for the dowel under the tower... I should be possible to combine the two it will just require more work to cut out sections of the tower/hanging bar.

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

The bar is quite sturdy. HOWEVER, the width of the bar is 24" and all of it is open for testing. The actual game element is 21" wide to the outside and if I'm reading the plans correctly it's only 18" inside (The bar is 1.5" Schedule 40 Steel, 21-(1.5x2)=18).

Plan accordingly.

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

1-1/2" Schedule 40 pipe is quite a bit larger than 1.5" outside diameter.

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

Quite right, so it is less than 18" between the standoffs.

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

The bar is not schedule 40 pipe, it is 1.5" DOM tubing with an actual OD of 1.5"

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

Thanks for the clarification.

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

We made one out of galvanized pipe and mounted it to the wall to be safe. It was expensive though.

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

We are going to mount bars under our team built tower for one of Peachtree Region's Destination Einstein practice fields.

I purchased a 10 ft. length of 1 1/4 in thin wall conduit from Home Depot for less than $11.00. It has an outside diameter of 1.510 in. which is very close to the DOM tubing which should be 1.500 in.

DOM is smooth on the inside, hence it is used by FIRST in field elements that have to slide together. For our practice purposes, you don't need to go to the expense of using DOM since we are only interested in hanging on the outside. If you need something more precise than the conduit I mentioned above, you can go with ERW tubing. Identical to DOM on the outside, ERW has a small ridge inside where the welding was done.

For my money, I can live with 10 thousands of an inch oversize. There may be teams, however, who need the precision of the DOM. Hope they have a budget for it!

Dr. Bob

Re: Hanging Bar (Team Version)
 

This was exactly our reasoning for Aerial Ascent (2013). We built our practice pyramid out of rigid conduit.