Are the robots getting too heavy?

[Peter Matteson]

I was thinking about the issue of weight for the robot this year and was reminded that with the use of bumpers the competition weight for many bots this year will exceed 145 lbs. I believe that the handling of the robots on and off the field has become an issue with this weight increase. The company I work for will not allow anything over 35 lbs to be moved without a lift assist device. We are having 2 people lift almost twice that weight with the way robots are typically handled at competitions. I want to know how many other people think we have gone a bit to far and need to scale back.

Reminder: FIRST specifically added lifting safety to this years kickoff presentation for a reason.

[sanddrag]

Well, I'd say 15 lbs of bumpers is quite excessive.

[Shu Song]

I was wondering that myself: how in the world are you ever going to get 15 lb's of foam noodles on the bot. 15 lb's of that stuff will prolly be able to cover the entire robot and I think that is a little excessive.

But with respect to the weight limit, 145 pounds is fine, I see no problem with it. If they ever did raise the weight limit for essential robot parts (not just bumpers), it won't give teams an easier job of staying under. So I see no problems with heavier robots.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Shu Song

I was wondering that myself: how in the world are you ever going to get 15 lb's of foam noodles on the bot. 15 lb's of that stuff will prolly be able to cover the entire robot and I think that is a little excessive..

I imagine the majority of the weight is in the wood backing.

[dhitchco]

The fact that these robots are indeed heavy and sometimes have some sharp edges gives every team an opportunity to show-off some innovation for lifting safety.

As an example, how about 'bot carts that raise and lower for OSHA-approved (ise your knees) lifting methods? How about 'bot carts that actually "deliver" the robot on/off the playing field (e.g. ramp through the four (4) field openings).

Teams should NOT be allowed to enter/exit the field by carrying their robot except through the four passages (not OVER the side walls). I've seen many players trip while carrying their robots last year; especially top-heavy 'bots.

[KenWittlief]

Speed Racer
Mach 5

button 3 on the steering wheel (nuff said :^)

we'll know the bots are too heavy when teams start showing up at regionals
with carts that have cranes on them.

I would say FIRST should start requiring 'lift handles' on the robot

four of them, then we can require 4 people to carry the bot on the field

sometimes you only need two people to carry it back off (and two more to gather the pieces)

[Ashley Christine]

I remember last year, at my first FIRST event I was safety captain. One of the safety advisors yelled at me for only two people lifting the bot on and off the field because of the weight distribution. Then I had to tell him it wasnt my choice...

So, I think that there should be more people when it comes to lifting the bot. Maybe there should be helpers on the field [FIRST volunteers] to help the students.

[Esp for those all girl teams... who dont have quite as much power as men.. yes, I admit it, I am weak ]

[Justin Stiltner]

Since 2001 my team has been using an hydraulic lift table with a rack on it to allow access to the bottom of the bot. The lift can put the table at about chest height if we want but usually when we are going on the field 1 guy will grab the robot on each side and a 3rd will lower the table and pull it out from under the robot then the carriers have a clear walk to the field and only have to sit the robot down on the ground.

An idea I had a few years ago is to modify our cart to be a roll back style like a car carrier, the table angels into a ramp and a winch pulls the robot up onto it, or having an pallet jack style unit that slides under the sides of the bot and picks it up from the sides then you wheel it away. Also had the idea of putting a truck bed hoist on our cart... theres your crane!

And to answer the thread topic i don't think they are getting too heavy, I think most bots will only be the 120 (I don't like bumpers, build it to withstand the battles) but I do like the idea of having handles that detach from the bot for easier lifting

[Kelvin Ng]

our team had the human player, coach and two drivers take the robot off our cart and move it on the field. Last year, that meant a distributed 22 pounds per person (our bot was 92 pounds). I guess a good safety feature would be grab handles. The spaces around the wheels/treads would make excellent grab handles, unless they're sharp.

I believe that the robots are getting too heavy to handle safely by just a few people. By allowing teams to add weight, they can add more to their robots, and make them consider robot handling safety. The judges considered the method of handling the robot last year.

[Lil' Lavery]

Yeah, the bots are getting quite heavy, and can be a pain to carry. Especially if you have a bot where most of the weight is in a small portion (aka our bot last year and the south corner where the arm support structure overlayed). But no, its not too heavy for carrying on and off the field. For some independant outreach activities etc it may be too heavy, such as carrying it out of a parking garage like we did when we went to Devry. But the field isnt too hard...

[Greg Marra]

I think they're getting towards the heavy side. These robots can cause some serious damage if they're dropped or fall, and it isn't easy for two people to lift that much weight and then coordinate walking around with it. I suppose without an arm this year you might be able to have three or four people lift, which would help ease the load.

Good thing FRC is a High School competition...

[Kelvin Ng]

Originally Posted by dhitchco

As an example, how about 'bot carts that raise and lower for OSHA-approved (ise your knees) lifting methods? How about 'bot carts that actually "deliver" the robot on/off the playing field (e.g. ramp through the four (4) field openings).

Gives teams some more stuff to do off season, to design and build carts to maximize loading safety. Perhaps a cart that doubles as a workstation? Allows people to work on the robot from beneath the cart, around the cart, from many angles. This would reduce the amount of lifting needed, if the cart could double as a work station.