pic: MiniMe
 

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

Did you find that the diamond plate provided an adequate grip for robots to climb up? For some reason, in my mind diamond plate equals slippery, and im not sure if all robots will be able to climb that (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

Other than that, it looks great! :)

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

Diamond plate is not all that slippery. We plan to sandblast the treads if we need to. Our ramp is 20 degrees and not that hard to climb.

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

one of the characteristics of diamond plate, even if it is highly polished, is the raised diamonds give an incredible amount more traction than just plain sheet.

(just throwing that out there, random tid-bit)

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

But not as much, as if it were treaded with conveyor belting or carpet, or something similar. Just a thought.

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hows the weight on that? It seems like it should weigh like 300 lbs it looks absolutly huge!

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

Without electronics it weighs 75 LB. A piece od 24 x 48 inch diamond plate only weighs 7 LB. Our big ramp weighs less than 20 LB.

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Does it have room for 2 robots??

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While Diamond Plate may give decent traction, a surface like carpet, rubber, velcro, or non-slip padding (like you put under rugs) may be far superior.

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Jonathan, if you refer to the other picture they uploaded, it seems like they have enough room for two robots. Good luck.

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Yes, Jonathan it has room for two robots with bumpers. The length of the flat portion of the ramp is 76 inches. The wheelbase on most robots is less than 32 inches and factoring in two bumper thicknesses of 2 1/2 inches each that still leaves about 6 inches excess ramp.

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

This looks like a solid robot that can add 60 pts to its alliance every time.

When I look at this picture at 100% size, it looks like the chain has less than 120 degrees of wrap on the drive sprocket. Does anyone else see this as a problem?

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

must be 16 gage, eh?

(for those who haven't played with the numbers, aluminum weighs 0.1 lbs/cubic inch, it's really easy to calculate the weight of sheets of aluimnum.)

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Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something -- but robots with bumpers can be as long as 45 inches -- potentially requiring at least 90" of length atop the platform. Even if you assume that the first robot up's frame and front bumper overhang the end of the ramp, there's little chance that'll make up 14 inches of length.

What am I missing?

Re: pic: MiniMe
 

I would argue that a skilled driver would be able to go up the ramp and then turn their robot sideways. It would be extremely tight, but even if a wheel overhangs a bit, there would still be boatloads of room for the second robot. Otherwise, you can allow for some amount of overhang on both sides of the ramp and fit two robots.

Hmm, how tall are the guard rails that border the field? I have a horrible picture in my mind of a robot escaping the playfield on one of these ramps...