heheheehe
 

hmm... i heard through the grape vine that Team19's drive has been tested to tow a car.

:D :D :D

tow a car that's in gear and i'll be impressed. ;-)

Weren't there full sized pick-ups being towed last year??

Now, tow a F-450 in gear and I will be impressed.

At the California Robot Games last fall there was a truck pulling competition to see who could pull a truck a certain distance the fastest.

With more physical contacts this year and a lot more pushing, the robots this year are probably going to have to be stronger than last year's, so I wouldn't be too surprised to see robots that can tow trucks.

where did you get all the friction from??

I believe you can buy it in the MSC book. Small parts never had it in stock last year.

towing a car?
 

Towing a car is great. But pushing a car on a sheet of poly? Good luck!!!

whatever
 

tow a car we got a belt system to tow a small plane weighing up to 5000lbs so boo yeah its a really expencive belt system it hurt our price limits

Re: heheheehe
 

Congratulations, you overcame static friction.

Bah, we had TOBOR V pulling a truck (in neutral, of course) last year! ;) I wonder if there are pictures ...

- Katie

Towing a truck is not impressive at all...granted, it does look like a hurculean feat to outsiders, but as soon as you overcome the initial friction and the wheels start rolling, my dog could pull a truck. Pull me a 747 and then ill be impressed:D

Cory

oddly enough, it was us, Truck. lol, well yeah, our drivetrain from last year could pull a full size pickup easily.

Yeah...well...yeah...Chuck was pulling a bus up a hill that was filled with kids and full throttle in reverse. No really. Me lie? What?

now, was it in gear???

It's one thing to be able to pull a vehicle while it's in neutral. As M pointed out earlier, you only overcame static friction if it was in neutral.

Pulling a vehicle while it's in gear is a totally different story.

Also, as stated earlier, we had robots routinely pulling a truck, in neutral, at Cal Games, this year, as a side event.

Very cool stuff.

<edit>
removed a little confusing word
</edit>

Yes that would be us, the team with the fastest time...as has been stated numerous times, not that impressive of a feat though...

Cory

Ability to generate massive power
 

using all 3 of the motors provided in the last years kit it is possible to create 3 horsepower without tripping the breaker, geared right you would be able to pull quite a hefty load. Not to mention the drills are bigger this year.

Erick

yea ok...
 

i think i'll believe that when i see it..sorry but that's just how i see it...:D

Re: yea ok...
 

See this picture:

And also, this is of the final results for the truck pull competition.
Both of the pictures are from the California Robot Games.

:ahh:

You resurrect a dead thread so you can post an emoticon?

Are you kidding me?

I want my 30 seconds back.

a lot of robots could pull trucks last year.... i know ours could.

Have you tried pulling one in gear? I think that there is a slight chance that your bot might be able to pull it. (If anyone can, its probably you guys) I doubt it can be done though..

Cory

towing a car..
 

Who want to see truck pull at Cal Game this year again???

I want to see posts telling me you are interested!

I will bring my VW bug...bet it could be pulled in gear. Low compression VW engines!!!

And Ken, i woul love to see a truck push, because the robots are designed to push, not pull. They depend on traction, and the high mounting point of a rope lifts the bot when its under tension.

Unfortunately, because of different shapes and sizes of robots, this really wouldn't be possible. Some robots like WildStang are angled and won't get a solid mating surface.

You could permit a team member to weigh the robot down like 93 did in their video. Either that or bring with a set of lead weights to standardize the weight of each robot.

Personally, I prefer the letting the teams decide, because they know best how much traction their robot needs. More weight isn't always best, because then the more you have to accelerate.

Also, I hope that's a manual VW and not an automatic. The torque converter might hinder things, as would the planetary transmission (as most automatics use these days). Challenge: The robot who starts the engine the fastest wins!


The other option is to bring a full size weight lifting machine (those multi-function one's with the leg press). Connect the leg press to the robot. The cables on these usually come from a pulley that's positioned at ground level, so if anything the robots would have more traction. The robot that can "leg press" the most weight wins.

It went ok last year when we use a cable to hook the robots up with the truck. Pushing seems to be a better idea, we just need a straight surface for the robot to push at.

Remember an idea for a traction measurement device? We can easily use something similar, by using a piece of wood with right angle support behind it, so the robot will always push against the wood against a straight surface, and the back of the wood will attach to the car some how.

I definitely want to see the truck pull back. psst how bout an engineers drive the robot set of matches like that other offseason comp that toally escaped my memory right at this moment?:D that would be awesome.

Cory

Robot Olympics
 

I was morely referring to the truck push idea. Not every robot has a square frame. If they push against the edge of the truck their front or rear wheels may lift off the ground, losing traction.


I propose that there be a Robot Olympics. Perhaps it can be the FIRST (pun intended!) Annual Robot Olympics. A series of events designed to test robot strength, speed, design, and game ability. These events would include:

1. The first event would be a truck pull. The best time of 3 runs to pull a truck 100ft wins. This event would test both robot speed and robot torque.
2. The second event would be the above mentioned leg press machine. The robot that can leg-press the most weight wins. Most leg presses max out at 200lbs, so that should be more than enough. 5lb weights can be added for precision. This event would test the pure robot torque.
3. The third event would be a race. It would be complete with straightaways, turns and shortcuts. The shortcut would probabaly a steep ramp that robots have to climb up. Full contact is allowed. This event is meant to test robot control, robot design, and robot speed.
4. The fourth event would test object scoring ability. Every game to date has had an objective to it, like last year it was to put balls in goals, and this year it was to stack. Either (a) the robot that creates a certain stack size in the fastest time or (b) the robot that creates the tallest stack in 1 minute, wins. This event would change from year to year. Only robots with required mechanisms may compete.
5. The fifth event would test robot autonomous ability. The robot able to transverse a predetermined, simple course in the fastest time will win this event. This event will test robot functionality and robot programming ability.
6. The last event would test robot durability and robustness. Each robot will be dropped from a height of approximately 20 feet. Points will be awarded according to the amount of damage sustained (or lack thereof). Bonus points will be awarded for robots that shatter nicely, kinda like one of those diving competitions.

Okay, so that last one is a joke. But it would certainly be interesting to see. First, second, and third place prizes would be awarded in each category, along with an honorable mention to be awarded at the judge's discretion.

Re: Robot Olympics
 

Hence the idea of making a straight surface for the robot to push ;). As long as the surface is perpendictular to the force from the robot, then the robots won't be tipping them over. All the wedge robots will be ok. The only robots that will tip themselves over are the one with upside down wedges, but I don't think any robots designed themselves to intentionally transfer traction onto opponent robots. The only one I remember is shapes like 522's robot, but even for that robot I suspect they will be fine.

So pulling a car in nutral isn't all that impressive. Lets get some of the fast robots to tow a manual transmission car, and push/pull start it.

That would be cool.


Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~~~
Now if only I could get my car to start.

Yeah, but what if the car was up on blocks?



:D