Parameter of the Robot base

[kingsley.osei]

How big can the parameter of the robot be?
And how far outside of the frame can the arms extend.
And can you start a match with the arms already extended?

[Pratik Kunapuli]

There is no rule that dictates how large any extension can be or how large your robot may be on the field excluding a height limit of 78 inches tall. That being said, while in transport, there is a specified volume that the robot must fit within as per R3:

The ROBOT must satisfy the following size constraints:
A. during a MATCH, the ROBOT height may not exceed 78 in.
B. the ROBOT must be able to be arranged into a TRANSPORT CONFIGURATION with dimensions which do not exceed 28
in. wide, 42 in. long, and 78 in. tall.

You have up to one minute to set up your robot on the field before a match. All of these points should be considered when designing your robot, and specifically the extensions beyond the frame perimeter and how the robot will fit into the transport configuration.
__________________

[RedHeadRobotics]

As per R3:

"The ROBOT must be able to be arranged into a TRANSPORT CONFIGURATION with dimensions which do not exceed 28 in wide, 42 in long, and 78 in tall"

This means that there are no specific rules for the frame dimensions, but it is unlikely that you will be able to reduce the size of your frame in under a minute so the frame limitations would likely be 28 in by 48 in. (Although technically, you might be able to tilt the robot on it's side for transportation. It depends on if the coordinate system of the "28 in wide, 42 in long, and 78 in tall" is relative to the floor or to the robot's orientation. I would strongly encourage you to check in the Q &A forum before running with this idea)

There are no rules during the competition that say how far away from the frame area that a mechanism can extend in the match. Once again, I would be sure though that whatever mechanisms you build will be able to fold up to fit into the

[cmrnpizzo14]

Originally Posted by kingsley.osei

How big can the parameter of the robot be?
And how far outside of the frame can the arms extend.
And can you start a match with the arms already extended?

Don't want to be a jerk but please

[kingsley.osei]

THanks To you all for the help, We built the robot in a square using 31in wide bu 32 inch long. Our drive train uses four motors, three wheels on each side. We were thinking about going with the OMNIWHEELS. What is special about them?

[theCADguy]

Omni wheels have a set of rollers perpendicular to the front of the wheel. This allows them to have sideways and forward movement, that doesn't require turning. You can put the wheels in an orientation like this:
| |
--
| |
The wheel(s) in the center can drive the robot sideways, because the rollers on the side wheel allow perpendicular movement. Considering that your center of mass is directly over the center wheels, this style of drive (referred to as slide or H - drive) is capable of excellent omni directional maneuvering.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by kingsley.osei

THanks To you all for the help, We built the robot in a square using 31in wide bu 32 inch long. Our drive train uses four motors, three wheels on each side. We were thinking about going with the OMNIWHEELS. What is special about them?

Hold up a minute. If your robot is 31" x 32", you will need to have some method of losing 3" or so for transport.

As far as omniwheels, they allow very easy sideways movement. You REALLY want traction wheels of some form, though omniwheels may be useful on the corners IFF the center wheel is not dropped.

[mackenzieg]

Originally Posted by kingsley.osei

We were thinking about going with the OMNIWHEELS. What is special about them?

Omni wheels are good for extra maneuverability, but as Eric said, you do want traction wheels (at least the center wheels) on your robot.

Simbotics has a really good resource on a lot of different types of drivetrains, I'd suggest taking a look here: http://www.simbotics.org/resources/m...rain-selection


Mackenzie Glaser
Team 1261

[philso]

The learning curve for FRC is steep and long. It may be of benefit for your team to find a more established team in your area who can meet with your team. A few hours of in-person meetings can bring you up to speed with the basics much faster than asking many basic questions here. They can also identify holes in your knowledge better than the people posting here. You can then come back and ask more specific questions.

[cusack99]

So we made the standard long chassis and are fully up and running. We have our mechanism designed but with our chassis 32" long do we have to have our arms upright at the beginning in transport to stay under 42"???

[Amar Shah]

Originally Posted by cusack99

So we made the standard long chassis and are fully up and running. We have our mechanism designed but with our chassis 32" long do we have to have our arms upright at the beginning in transport to stay under 42"???

Yes. There is no concept of a frame perimeter this year, only that the entire robot fits within that bounding box for the transport configuration. Note that you can carry the robot onto the field and unfold the arms before the start of the match.

[kmusa]

The other restriction that many seem to miss is G7-C - that the starting configuration can not be in either the AUTOZONE, nor the LANDFILL ZONE. There are already questions in the Q&A if the space above the zones are included in the restriction.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Amar Shah

Yes. There is no concept of a frame perimeter this year, only that the entire robot fits within that bounding box for the transport configuration. Note that you can carry the robot onto the field and unfold the arms before the start of the match.

Or, if you want to be slick, have the robot unfold its own arms during autonomous.

[dellagd]

Originally Posted by EricH

Hold up a minute. If your robot is 31" x 32", you will need to have some method of losing 3" or so for transport.

Yeah, before you do anything else, you guys need to fix this or you'll be in for quite a surprise at competition.

Unless you are going to get really complicated, one dimension of your frame has to be under 28".

[jvriezen]

Originally Posted by dellagd

Yeah, before you do anything else, you guys need to fix this or you'll be in for quite a surprise at competition.

Unless you are going to get really complicated, one dimension of your frame has to be under 28".

Actually, you needn't get overly complicated to have your frame length and width >28".