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Re: belaying device
Has anyone considered this:
A robot that is, say, 45" tall. With the main frame/chassis in the bumper zone, so no more than 10" from the bottom. Means at least 35" (and possibly a lot of weight) above the chassis level. Two belay attachments on the frame, at the chassis level.
Attach belay device to attachment points. Team is lifting robot off of pyramid. Something goes awry and team loses grip or whatever (this is why there is the belay device, right? In case someone drops the robot, to keep it from falling on someone's head.). Robot does not fall, but it FLIPS OVER due to top being heavier than bottom, whacking a student or two in the noggin. Ow!
Our lead mentor believes this is not safe, and that they should have required three belay attachments.
He told us about a similar accident that occurred, involving a 100-ton (I think that is what he said, it was REALLY heavy) motor or transmission or engine or something, of which he was aware. He is VERY concerned about an accident of this kind occurring with a robot in a competition, with bad results (albeit not as bad as the one involving the 100-ton engine).
I'm throwing this out there, at his request (he's too busy working on the robot to be on CD), to see what others think. I might not have expressed it properly, I hope you can figure out what I'm talking about.
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