Quote:
Originally Posted by cptopher
[font=Helv][size=2]The side balancing was our plan from the start. We realized that the bridge area supported 3 wide bots, but not three longs. We assumed that 3 wide bots would fit but could be potentially unstable and tip over (correct assumption). We never envisioned the stingers or pogo sticks used by the wide bots to balance. We were very impressed with that solution as well. However, as a small team with limited skills to build an accurate shooter, we were looking for a niche to enable us to join an alliance in elimination rounds. We thought the niche was to allow stable long bots to get the 3 bot balance points. We recognized that two long bots filled the length, but left width unused. A super narrow bot seemed unsuable. The inspiration came from when skateboarders slide or "grind" down a rail and balance on the edge.
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This is absolutely astonishing. An amazing example of strategic engineering design for a veteran team, let alone a team as relatively young as yours.
It's creativity like this that I love in FIRST. Most teams worried about how they could get, at best, 2 longs and a wide to balance through balancing aids and the like. Instead, you took the worst case scenario, a match with 3 long robots, and designed your robot to make it work.
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Congratulations on designing and implementing an amazing feature. And getting it to work on the field.