Designing a climbing mechanism for 2013... a humbling experience

[Leav]

Hi everyone,

Just needed a place to vent a bit really... I've always thought of myself as a creative and resourceful mechanical engineer, but i've got to admit: this year's climbing challenge has got me stumped so far.

I usually have at least an idea for how the challenge can be accomplished, but the 30 point climb has eluded me thus far.

I'd love to hear from other technical people from the first community: has anyone managed to come up with a climbing concept that you would consider simple and/or robust?

I have no interest in knowing what the idea is (I'd like to solve the puzzle on my own, with the team), just to know either way if people feel like they have found a simple solution or not.

I am constantly thinking of the 2010 climbing challenge where I completely missed the "simple" grab&twist solution, and can't shake the feeling that I'm missing a similar one here.

Good luck and may the force be with you.

-Leav

[pfreivald]

Yup!

We've got a climbing idea that should be stable all the way up. The devil is in the details, of course, and we're still very much hashing those out, but we're cautiously optimistic that we've anticipated and planned around all of the hazards/challenges (including requisite force, consistent balance, current demands, sudden power loss, etc, etc.)

I'm quite impressed by the game this year, especially the climbing. A level one climb should be achievable by every team (if they plan for it -- a level one climb is much harder if your robot is too tall!) A level two climb is significantly harder than a level one climb, but well within the achievable range for most FRC teams. A level three climb is more difficult still.

But yeah, it's hard.

[Jared Russell]

For challenges like this, you think of 300 overcomplicated solutions before you find the "simplicity on the other side of complexity" (to quote Oliver Wendell Holmes).

We have not discovered a "so simple every rookie should do it" answer to the 30 point hang, but we have found methods that we believe are simple and robust within our team's capabilities.

[Alan Anderson]

I hit on a simple climber design a couple of days ago. Making a robot that climbs for 30 points looks easy.

Combining that climber design with other mechanisms for handling discs looks somewhat less easy.

[holygrail]

We came up with an inside climb that looks doable and stable, but ultimately decided that it would take up so much space that we wouldn't be able to shoot effectively and climb. I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has a small footprint climber that can get 20 points or more safely.

[rinim324]

Our team has thought of several overcomplicated designs and now we have found the simplest design possible we could think of for climbing to the top. We took insiration from some lifter designs from the 2004 and 2010 games. It will be easy for us to make a climbing robot but we will most likely not be adding any shooter or pickup mechanism for frisbies.

[Player61]

is there a rule for going past the top of the tower with the top end of your robot?

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by Player61

is there a rule for going past the top of the tower with the top end of your robot?

No, but there is the pyramid goal up there that you don't want to run into.

[nathan_hui]

I believe someone on CD posted a Q&A answer stating that Level 3 went effectively to infinity. I would take that to imply that you could go past the top of the tower (to the point where you started being unreasonable, so don't take off for the moon with your robot).

[FrankJ]

You still have to be in contact with the tower to get points. So you are actually limited to 84" or so.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

You still have to be in contact with the tower to get points. So you are actually limited to 84" or so.

Sir, please state the rule that says you must be in contact with the pyramid (or even transitively supported by it) in order to score CLIMB points.

Seriously, I don't see that anywhere. I've got Q's in to address whether a hoisted robot that's only ever touched Level 0 gets climb points, and whether driving on someone else's 2" tall ramp gets you 10 points.

[Leav]

Points are awarded for the highest Level achieved for every ALLIANCE ROBOT that CLIMBS its PYRAMID.

CLIMBING/CLIMB: the action of ascending the PYRAMID, defined in Section 3.1.5.2.

At the very least, i'd say the intent is clear.

[Bob Steele]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

Sir, please state the rule that says you must be in contact with the pyramid (or even transitively supported by it) in order to score CLIMB points.

Seriously, I don't see that anywhere. I've got Q's in to address whether a hoisted robot that's only ever touched Level 0 gets climb points, and whether driving on someone else's 2" tall ramp gets you 10 points.

A climb is negated if the robot don't touch the pyramid in sequential order.
Hoisting without sequential contact will not net any points... as soon as a robot goes above the first level the referee would push the button and the lights in the driver station would indicate a bad climb.

Good question about whether a robot that is above the floor and supported by another robot would get 10 points.

My guess is that the rule will change to read "fully supported by the pyramid" unless they want to move to more coopertition. In that case you could score two robots by simply having a piece of lexan flop down on either side of your robot that would fit a robot Would not even have to be 2" tall... any height above 0 would work.

[dellagd]

I asked a question on the Q&A and you can grab on the center post, the one in the middle of the pyramid goal too if you dont damage it.

[Whippet]

So, would anyone care to explain what kind of gearboxes were used in 2010 for the "Grab and twist" method?