[Solace]

we are 128.8 lbs. The captions on the image itself, along with the other two, gives a lot more info. If we tip our mast to the full upright position and move our forklits to the right spot, they are the perfect hight for flipping over boxes (even if they're all the way upside down). So if there is a box standing on end, we move our forks to the right spot, drive into it and knock it over, and squeeze the lower arms. The arms are bent into a certain position so that after the stack is upright, it will conform to the shape of the arms when its squeezed, putting it in perfect alignment for the one-way check valves on the forklift. we wanted to be sure that we didn't waste any time attempting to orient ourselves with the box, so instead we decided to orient the box with us.

we were going to go with steel, but in order to save weight we decided to go with beryllium (we're hoping the judges won't notice:rolleyes

Actually, its made of 3/4 inch plywood. surpirsingly sturdy stuff, we took the idea from our mentor, RAGE 173 - they did happen to win the national championship, so we have proof that it works.

The back wheels don't have much traction. We had to put them on because originally because we had so much traction that we couldn't turn (even with our 4 motors). However, the front wheels are still the original 8 inch pneumatic tires, and they stick like glue. Also, the center of gravity is more towards the front of the robot, so most of the weight is transmitted into the pneumatic tires.

Sure it spins the back tires a bit, but it can still pull me at 165 pounds (although slowly) across the floor. So far though we've found at the scrimmages that this game is more about speed than power. we can pull 12 ft/sec, and with high maneuverability we hope we can just go around most of the people in our way. (yeah pivoting axle!)

I see that your bot has a pivoting axle too. Ours doesn't pivot front to back like yours (you don't need that if you are using 4 wheels), but its the side to side action that lets you approach the ramp from any angle. Is that the same thing on yours?

cool bot in all, but it seems to me that when you pick up multiple boxes at a time they aren't held very securely. You might want to consider using guides or one way check valves like ours in order to hold them more securely. because of the check valves, we can lean our mast back and run around the court at full speed (on the ramp and off) without them falling off. They really aren't that hard to make, all you have to do is have the boxes all the same orientation when they're actually being held by your robot.