Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

when we made our ramps we tried to think of all teh diffrent ways a team would make their robot and then decided to go with the honeycomb fiberglass to hold the weight and a total sheet with no slit to adapt to any drivetrain:D

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

Our ramp:

1> Welded Box steel frame
2> Skinned with sheet aluminum (no slits)
3> 37" wide (for sloppy entrance)
4> 16 degree angle with 2-8 degree transisions back to flat on our robot (difficult to bottom out and no backspooling of the drive motors on a ramp)
5> non-skid surface for added traction
6> 76" x 37" flat top (@ 13.5" hight) for parking (when unfolded)


We discussed slits when we were designing the robot and came to the conclusion that slits = not all robots will be able to climb and our strategy is to be the best rampbot out there.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

we decided yesterday that we are going to put one ramp on our robot for palmetto.

hopefully, it'll be an elevator so anyone could get on it.

and our goal at palmetto is to do the picking, instead of being picked. b/c 30 extra points in all of our qualifying matches at vcu would've gotten us undeafeated.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

YAH WE ALSO WEIGHED IN on THE ASSUMPTION THAT ONLY ONE ROBOT WITH RAMPS WOULD BE IN THE FINALS MATCH AT ANY COMPETITION AND IT WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE TWO AND FOR AN ADDED BONUS WE HAVE AN ARM THAT ADDS AN EXTRA ATTRACTION TO A WELL SCORING ROBOT THAT LETS IT ALL OUT AT THE END OF THE MATCH

http://www.virginiafirst.org/FRC/photos.shtml

chek out the championship day we are the purple robot with the suspension bridge

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

I was quite surprised by the number of teams who didnt design their bots to be able to drive up ramps.. We figured we would need to drive up 30 degree's and designed our drivetrain like last years which was very successfull climbing up the ramps. The only problem we have now is that a lot of ramps are so skinny and have no side rails.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

It was amazing how many robots thought that 1/4" clearance can get up a ramp at Manchester. Even if they are possible the best ramps EVER, like ours:cool:, they had no chance.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B7FL...elated&search=

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

I was suprised how many teams didn't account for their bumbers when trying to create a bot that could climb a ramp. At Pittsburgh the majority of the robots who had trouble climbing ramps had trouble due to their bumpers. Admittedly our robot had some trouble with our bumpers as well but we could make it up every ramp if our drivers got alligned.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

Yeah im suprised as well being a ramp bot was difficult as some teams insisted upon zero ground clearance robots however most bots were able to get up our ramps as we built them as two roll out sheets of diomond plate with sand mixed with epoxy for a covering that made them extremely grippy. there are no slits and there 37 inches wide 19 degree incline with enough space on top for room to spare. the thing about being a ramp bot is you have to play good defense and pick an alliance that can score and easily get up your ramps such as 537-charger robotics and 2194-fondy fire who helped carry us to a victory in wisconsin. Our ramps were by far one of the lowest tech ramps there, spring loaded with a pin pull release but they are reliable and durable and 14" tall. one thing about the angle aluminum siderails is that some bots bumpers stick over the edges and can not clear these walls. i wish our team had the know how to build one of the many lift designs as they are way cool. we had also planned an arm on our bot but we maxed out at 117lbs with just our two ramps so scrap that idea. well good luck to all ramp bots just keep in mind robots do fall off and as in out quarter final robots on top of you can break things like plexiglass covers oh what a fix zipties, angle alumminum, and imagination. it was crazy.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

This is probably one of the limiting factors in side rails. We have rails on ours, but only 2" high, because we don't want to interfere with bumpers. We know 2" is still good though, because any team with bumpers lower to the ground than that has them mounted illegally.

And to rampbots: more important than guide rails, is a back rail (if you only have a ramp on one side). I know we fell off of one of our partner's ramps by driving over the edge, and our partners loved being able to drive to the edge of our ramp and just hit a mechanical stop in the playoffs.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

We've got that too. ;)

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

There was only one or two robots that couldn't climb our ramp, and one of them was a Mecanum drive.

The gap in our ramp is about 20" wide, so any bots with wheels 21" or wider were fine.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

Our robot is more lift rather than ramp. This was at the pits of the Silicon Valley Regional: http://www.youtube.com/v/7WmOQCdFUvg

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

I noticed that on 973's robot Ramposaurous there were silts that teams did fall though. We're going to cover them over with something before Davis.

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

I saw that happen (not to mention, 675's pit was right next to 1070's, you can see our crate in that video) and it's a pretty good design.

675 has a slot as well and I think somebody did get caught in it (then we added a bunch of plates to the ramp and still made weight).

Re: To All Ramp Bots.
 

Theres also the team who had a wheel base that almost wasn't as wide at the slit. Almost got into deep water with that one.