Modifying
 

What are rules on modifying the robot in the pits? Like, if I wanted to add a roller on our currently gravity powered dumper, would that be allowed? It would still pass inspection upon doing so, but I am just not sure how much we can modify our bot to perform better.

Re: Modifying
 

You can do whatever you want to your robot at the event provided you have it reinspected afterwards.

Re: Modifying
 

...and provided you can actually do it in the pits. Consult the At The Events section of the manual to make sure you can do what you want to do.

Re: Modifying
 

Make sure though that all modifications are up to date on the rules, even though the dumper sounds good double check before you do anything to it. Also make sure that all of your parts that you are using to change it are under 45lbs so that you can use them all.

Re: Modifying
 

Please check in with your lead inspector prior to the change. They might have some suggestions on the best way to accomplish your goals and explain how to stay within the rules prior to your commitment to change. there is nothing worse than having spent a great deal of time working on something, only to have it break one of the robot rules or extend outside of the bumper perimeter.

Re: Modifying
 

I believe if the part is not fabricated when you enter the pits that you can use it regardless of weight, right? I'm not sure, thankfully we didn't need to add more than our carrying allowance to our robot this year.

Personally I would make the change if you can before being inspected so you don't have to go through the whole thing twice.

Re: Modifying
 

Having seen the robot in question myself, I'd say that you might want to look at that bar that keeps the balls in as a starting point. I think your best bet would be to replace that bar with the roller and tweak the lengths on that linkage system.

And remember, you can make the roller during your time here, but make sure it's less than 40 lbs with any other fabricated items needed for that or for the intake system. COTS items (say, motors) don't count in the allowance.

Note: These guys only have one more event: Atlanta. Best to make the stuff at their base and ship it there/put it in luggage.

Note 2: For those that didn't understand my first paragraph, their dumper looks like a flat piece of plywood with an aluminum bar on the open side. They fire one relatively small piston, and through a linkage set, the bar pops up and the back side of the plywood does the same.

Re: Modifying
 

Yea Eric, I was going to remove the gate that opens which is linked to the plywood and replace it with a stationary roller powered by a CIM. The plywood base would still lift up when i want to dump, but the roller would also turn on at the same time to get the balls out much faster. It was a problem I noticed at the LA Regional.

If I could, I would rotate the entire base 90 degrees to make it a wide-bot instead of its current narrow configuration. But it's a bit late for that now. Changing to forward dumping would be nice also, but it is also a bit much.

Re: Modifying
 

It's not over till it's over. Beatty has, on occasion, rebuilt their entire robot on Thursday if the need suited it.