Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvin Hartley
I'm happy with the current weight restrictions,* and moving it hasn't been a problem for me/my team, provided we do it safely. If a team is conceerned about not being able to lift a 150 pound robot safely, then they should design their robot to be lighter. The end result of a self-imposed weight limit would be exactly the same as a FIRST-imposed weight ruling.
*Granted, I wouldn't mind a higher weight restriction, but I certainly don't have a problem with it being too high.
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As Al already pointed out the robot weight is nothing to sneeze at. A self imposed weight limit would simply put you at a disadvantage in the game, so it really isn't at all the same as a game rule.
I've worked in a warehouse setting and 80lbs was the most you were ever expected to lift on your own. That was, effectively, for grown men accustomed to lifting heavy loads. That's a pretty typical number from what I've seen, and workplace injuries from lifting heavy loads are still common (why OSHA hasn't set some regulations on this is beyond me).
150lbs has got to be the upper limit. Any higher and a robot simply can not be safely borne by two highschool students, and I suspect FIRST already recognizes this. A return to the ~130lb loaded weight would be a big step in the right direction. Since FIRST won't go back to no bumpers, and realistically the battery isn't going to change, that weight would have to come out of the robot. Oh well. Teams are always going to be busting the weight cap no matter where you set it, and will always complain that if only they had X more lbs to play with they could have done Y.
I'd just be happier if the dressed robot didn't weigh more then 90% of my teenage students, is all.