Ball 3 inch under
 

What are teams doing to ensure the ball does not roll more than 3 inches under the frame perimeter?

Do we know how this will be checked at inspection before competition?

I assume flexible material (surgical tube) would not be a good choice...

THANKS :)

Re: Ball 3 inch under
 

We're making a recessed opening in the front of the frame. The recess has a solid bar across it to prevent the ball going in more than 3".

Surgical tubing won't do the job....

Re: Ball 3 inch under
 

It won't.

If a ball goes more than 3" under your frame during a match, you will be penalized. It's up to you to figure out how to not let that happen.

Re: Ball 3 inch under
 

This item is in discussion informally at the moment. When something has been decided, it will either appear on the Inspection Checklist or a Team Update if the decision requires it. Although this is mainly the refs call, inspectors and refs work closely to insure the rules are followed.

Re: Ball 3 inch under
 

For 2791: on 3 robot sides, a hard frame member will prevent this. On one side, our kicker will.

One of the reasons an 8 wheel drive was chosen over, say, 4 wheels was so that there would be no gap to worry about balls getting in from. (At least, I think that's why!)

Re: Ball 3 inch under
 

I believe, on our final machine, our roller will keep the ball from going in more than 2.75". After this we plan on having a hard stop 3" into the frame perimeter to eliminate any possibility of a ball ever going in too far.

Theoretically, if you're looking for something cheap, easy, and light-ish, you could use a piece of plywood as a hard stop. This would eliminate any questions about intrusion.

Re: Ball 3 inch under
 

I hope you all are designing the under part of your robot to not get caught on any balls that go under you say if a robot pushes one under you that is in a corner. Or the ones who are flying over the bumps that we all do not land on one. O and do not forget the favorite, if you wobble and a ball catches the wheel and spins it under you. Just wanted to throw that all out, was not meaning to sound rude, just wanted to let people know about the small issues I have seen in the past from aim high to even raise the bar.

Re: Ball 3 inch under
 

It always pays to be able to demonstrate there is no possible way your robot could have broken rule X (whatever the rule happens to be that year). For example, since we aren't allowed to extend more than 90 inches vertical, design hard stops or mechanical limits to your height that can easily be proven to an inspector, judge, or ref. Since the ball can't go under more than 3 inches, design hard stops to prevent that, and be prepared to demonstrate.

That's not to say that exceptional circumstances won't happen (like bouncing over a bump and landing a ball)... but you want to make it as clear as possible that you aren't violating that rule during normal game play.