Designs that would never work...

[Cyberguy34000]

Like 30,000 other students this morning, I eagerly watched the Kickoff. For me it was in a crowded auditorium filled with anxious anticipation. After a string of technical difficulties, long-winded speeches and how-to videos, the triple play game of '05 was finally revealed. The entire room went deathly silent as the camera panned for our first full view of the new playing field.


Everything just went silent. You could almost hear the crazy ideas racing through people's heads on new strategies, new robots, and new, well, everything. Most teams didn't have access to the rules at that time, so while watching the robo-people demonstration, there were a lot of ridiculous designs going through people's heads. Designs that might actually work, given that you don't look at the rules, or think about it too hard.

This thread is dedicated to those stupid robot designs which will never stand a chance on the field, but are fun to think about anyway. If you don't put it in here we'd probably never hear about it otherwise. Here's a few of the nutty ideas I came up with. Enjoy, and don't hesitate to post some the ridiculous designs which came up in your own brainstorming sessions.

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King Kong

This large tetra shaped robot would start the team tetra strapped to its belly and rush to the center of the field during autonomous mode, raise off the ground using telescoping stilts, and then push itself onto the center goal, capping it, and then finally lower three locking pneumatics that would be connected to the stilts for stability. The stilts would also double as arms with the front two being "gate keepers", able to block off the entire center part of the field from opponents, while letting alliances members through. The back arm would be more like a wheeled base that would roll over to the tetra loading station, take a tetra, and then bring it back to be lifted by either of the other two arms to cap one of the center goals. This robot would dominate the field the field, crushing the enemy, and bringing victory to the alliance! MUHAHAHAAHAAA!

This design has one very obvious and fatal flaw, besides being illegal because it sits on top of the goal. In order to work the stilt/arms it would have have the strength of titanium and the weight of a toothpick. Oh, well...

Robo Herder

This robot would be a huge rectangular block that would just barely fit within the size/weight requirements (hey, that's one rule you can always count on ). It would rush to the center of the course during autonomous mode, and on the way split in the front like a "V" before forming a wide wall heading for the goal. Hopefully it would be fast enough to outrun the enemy robots. Before it hits the goal, the sides would separate (tethered, of course) and then go around the center goal where they would reform by a metal rod while it expanded to full size, taking up the width of the course. It would then shift into low torque and trap the little suckers against the wall, giving the alliance free reign of the course.

I actually really liked this design and it might have actually been a remote possibility if it weren't for the new rule this year about trapping opponents. It counts off 10 points for every 10 seconds you have trapped an enemy robot. So if you trapped all 3 enemy robots, depending on how fast you did it, you'd be seriously screwed, with a little over -350 points in penalties.

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So what robot designs/ideas were the first casualties in your brainstorming sessions? I'd love to hear about them, so feel free to post away!

[Ryan F.]

Odd...those two designs are about exactly what I would say my crazy designs are. I don't know about others, but I've been thinking about this today, and can't think of many unique designs that would be practical.

[Cyberguy34000]

This isn't about practical, it's about having fun and thinking outside the box... tetrahedron.... whatever....

[tkwetzel]

My first thougt was spider-bot: 6-8 arms for grabbing tetras as fast as possible and then being able to run around and cap goals without having to return for more tetras right away. This was only a dream as we do not have enough motors to control so many appendages. (I know, motors aren't the only control devices). I think this is very far-fetched, but I think that a team (possibly Beatty) may try this and succeed very well.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

One possibility would be a huge volcano robot. It would sit right midfield and then spontaneously ahve a bunch of arms that yanked out to steal all the tetras. Obviously there are numerous problems with this. It's illegal to descore this year. Also, it has to obtain it from automatic or human player by entering a zone.

[Ductapemaster05]

now see what you have to do on something like the spider design is just have it pick up one tetra put it in the middle and have it sit on top of the center goal then have the apendages fold out and grab tetras and place them onto the remaining 8 outside goals while its still perched up ontop of the middle goal, then you wouldnt need to worry about getting backon your side with the amount of points you will rack up

[Cyberguy34000]

Originally Posted by Ductapemaster05

now see what you have to do on something like the spider design is just have it pick up one tetra put it in the middle and have it sit on top of the center goal then have the apendages fold out and grab tetras and place them onto the remaining 8 outside goals while its still perched up ontop of the middle goal, then you wouldnt need to worry about getting backon your side with the amount of points you will rack up

So what your saying is having a robot that can sprout 8 30-foot long arms? Normally, I would say It would never fit but I think if we bend the fabric of the space-time continuum it might just work.

Do they mention anything about inter-dimensional manipulators in the rules?

[Wetzel]

Every year our team discounts something as impossible to do. Then I see some team that pulled it off.

Never underestimate the power of human ingenuity.

Wetzel

[n0cturnalxb]

Tentacled robot? Have it load all of its (9, I would think) arms up with tetras, move to the middle, and then just sit and wait until the match is almost over. Then, unload all 9 arms, one tetra for each goal.

You get.. what.. 80 points minimum from all that?

[geeknerd99]

We somehow ended up spending half an hour trying to tell a teammate that building an unfolding, 27-foot wide wall robot would be bad strategically (no offensive capabilities) and would weigh at least half a ton if built with enough strength to stop other bots from going across it.

After our kickoff meeting was over, he was still trying to convince people that a wall was the best place to go...

[Cyberguy34000]

Hey would someone check this out in the rules? I didn't see anything that would actually disqualify this robot but I wouldn't want to be the team building it. Seeing as to how it make the team that built it the scourge of the computation.

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Bed Sheet Bot

This robot would pretty much have one goal. It would make its way to the enemy control station, and then unfold, and expand its full size curtain over the enemy station, blocking their entire view, and rendering the enemy alliance helpless.

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It would defiantly go against gracious professionalism. But would it be legal?

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by Cyberguy34000

it would have to have the strength of titanium and the weight of a toothpick

We'll start working on that titanium toothpick right away...

[Cyberguy34000]

And they say our tax dollars are wasted!

[ahecht]

Originally Posted by Cyberguy34000

This design has one very obvious and fatal flaw, besides being illegal because it sits on top of the goal. In order to work the stilt/arms it would have have the strength of titanium and the weight of a toothpick. Oh, well...

I'm not sure that it is illegal to sit on top of the goal. <G20> says that "ROBOTS may not grab, grasp, grapple or attach to the GOALS or any other field structure". However, it says nothing about reacting against field structures. I'm not sure that sitting on a goal counts as grabbing, grasping, grappling, or attaching.

Originally Posted by Cyberguy34000

I actually really liked this design and it might have actually been a remote possibility if it weren't for the new rule this year about trapping opponents. It counts off 10 points for every 10 seconds you have trapped an enemy robot. So if you trapped all 3 enemy robots, depending on how fast you did it, you'd be seriously screwed, with a little over -350 points in penalties.

I searched the PDFs, and didn't find any rule about trapping (the words trap or trapping never appear). <G21> only referrs to pinning, where a robot is unable to move at all and is pressed between you and a field element (pinning an opponant robot between two alliance robots is legal). Blocking off a section of the field is legal as long as your opponant has any movement.

[Cyberguy34000]

With regard to King Kong, While it might not be illegal to sit on top, if it couldn't grapple onto the base then as soon as the arms moved the center of gravity would shift and the entire thing would just fall off.

A ROBOT may not impede the placement of TETRAS on the loading structures or the hand-off of a TETRA by a HUMAN PLAYER to a ROBOT. No HUMAN PLAYER or field attendant may be accosted by a ROBOT while placing TETRAS. Violations will result immediate disabling of the offending ROBOT, and disqualification of the alliance.


I still don't see how bedsheet bot violates this rule This rule applies to the loading of tetras on the SIDE STATIONS. Any others you can come up with?