Designing around the flag.

[Dr Theta]

I was just curious as to how rule R17 is affecting your designs. Mainly the part about the top of the flag holder being a mandatory 51" off of the floor.

[T3_1565]

does it have to be 51" the entire match??? or just in starting config?

[MrForbes]

Sounds to me like it needs to be there the entire match.

We did notice that it was rather convenient that our robot wants to be the same height as the flag holder needs to be.....

[T3_1565]

lol it is rather convientent for us too, and we didn't even knoe about that rule lol.... I skipped the part about the flag

Won't really be an issue for us. And besides, there's nothing that says the flag has to stay in the whole match...

[MrForbes]

True, although it appears they are putting a cork in there to try to keep it in place.

[TubaMorg]

Originally Posted by 114ManualLabor

Won't really be an issue for us. And besides, there's nothing that says the flag has to stay in the whole match...

It would be to your advantage to keep the flag in as the lap counter will also be attached to it via the rubber plug!

[Jeff Rodriguez]

We ran into the flagholder problem this weekend. Let's just say our holder will be interesting.

[AdamHeard]

No problems here; If you've seen the 973 teasers you'd probably know why.

I'd definitely not take this rule lightly; losing your flag removes a scoring ability.

[Steve Kaneb]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

No problems here; If you've seen the 973 teasers you'd probably know why.

I'd definitely not take this rule lightly; losing your flag removes a scoring ability.

I should hope it doesn't. If the flag were the scoring object, it would have been spelled out in the rules that the flag is what counts when the robot goes around.

Judging by the way that scoring has worked in the past (2k6 especially), I wouldn't be surprised to see those poor referees having to count the laps manually.

[reflion]

Whoa, never saw that rule...
but what stops you from just duct-taping it to a yardstick? Will it really cause you guys design problems?

Then again, it's easy for our team because we're a rolling box again, so...

[EricH]

Originally Posted by reflion

Whoa, never saw that rule...
but what stops you from just duct-taping it to a yardstick? Will it really cause you guys design problems?

Then again, it's easy for our team because we're a rolling box again, so...

Duct tape is illegal... Zip ties, on the other hand, are not.

[vhcook]

Flagholder height should definitely be constant the entire match. The rule specifies flag height in "playing configuration", which is elsewhere defined as any configuration you're in during the game, including transient states.

...The flag holder must be permanently mounted to the ROBOT such that when the ROBOT is in any PLAYING CONFIGURATION and the FLAG is in the flag holder, the FLAG is approximately vertical and the top of the FLAG is 75 inches above the floor. As the flag pole is approximately 36 inches long, that means the top of the flag holder must be 51 inches above the floor...

In answer to the original question, it should be pretty easy for our design.