Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

<G43> allows the HOSTBOT to grab the TOWER during DEPLOYMENT.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

Does this apply?Doesn't say how long the restriction lasts after the MINIBOT has crossed the DEPLOYMENT LINE.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

Considering the penalty is just a disabled tower, and the fact that the towers are disabled after the match...

Regardless, if the GDC were to outlaw the HOSTBOT from having an attached extension to retrieve the minibot, it would seem rather silly.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

Thanks for the reply. Idk if you read the previous posts, but our team is using a deployment system containing drawer glides and a scissor to guide the minibot to the pole/tower. Someone before said that putting memory foam on the hostbot is not prohibited. If my team were to put memory foam on the end of the deployment system such that when the minibot falls(let's hope not), it will hit the memory foam, would this be allowed?

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

If the MINIBOT is allowed to contact the HOSTBOT again after the TOWER is TRIGGERED, then using the memory foam as a soft landing pad would be a valid idea. But I don't know how <G22> is going to be interpreted.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

lucky for us we have ryan, who is that tall.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

You could always build a bunch of mini-bots then let the field crew rip it down every match. (The sad part is I'm only half joking:rolleyes: ) Has the actual way they plan on getting a stuck mini-bot down been revealed? I'm guessing miniture chainsaw mounted on pole.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

Have you empirically tested this yet? I'm roughly estimating you'd need someone atleast 6'6" to make that reach. And that's assuming your minibot hangs down 12" from the target. You'd need someone about 7'2" to reach up to 122". This is assuming my rough body proportions math scales properly, and no jumping, of course.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

Yeah, that rule is so hard to interpret. Hopefully it will be interpreted into greater depth in a future team update.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

By shunting your motors when they get to the top, it will allow them to return back down at a slow and constant velocity. Ever drop magnets down a copper pipe? The same principle works for the motors. If the motor wires are shunted together, back emf will in effect prevent the motors from backdriving to fast. The trick we're still figuring out is how to switch the battery power off FIRST then shunt the motors SECOND. It's all about careful alignment of switches. Of course there's always the fuse that blows if it happens in the reverse order.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

Yeah your thoughts are true. Today was our first time running the minibot on the pole. We are still developing it though. We also were running it on the standard robot battery, rather than the small battery meant to be used on the minibot. We still have to cut some weight and program the minibot, so things might change.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

well if you our using an NXT brick and a motor control you could simply change the speed of your robot to a low power so the minibot will stop where you want it to.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

Our team has decided not to use the NXT brick partly because it is added weight and because it isn't really needed. Our plan is to use a switch to activate the minibot when it hits the pole, and a switch to turn it off at the top, in hopes that it will slide down at a nice pace due to friction.

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

What do people think about backdriving the motors down the pole?

Re: Minibot Falling Solutions
 

We tried to reverse power ... doesn't work for our design.

What does work for us, assuming the bot stays up .... is to shake the pole just a little and the thing comes down either backdriving or falling.

Either way, its a good thing if we can catch it.