Q72 Reminder, Crate Height Limit

[Gregor]

Teams please don't forget about Q72, specifically that the robot crate is practically limited to 60" in height according to this document.

For any teams that plan on shipping their robot (including to the Championship), plan accordingly. If your robot design involved a static component at 78", it needs to be able to be disassembled..

[Leav]

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So, teams within driving distance from St. louis = 78" high robots. (Bag, tag and bring it on a trailer)

Teams who must crate their robot for groud shipping. = ~65" high robots (70" tall crate, 4" lumber, approximately 1" for the panels)

Teams who must crate their robot and ship it by air = ~55" high robots (60" tall crate, 4" lumber, approximately 1" for the panels)


23" (~58cm) difference on allowed robot height based on where you build your robot seems unreasonable.


It's reasonable to be angry at the GDC for this, right?


EDIT: apparently for champs everyone must build a crate, but it's still a 10" (~25cm) difference.
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[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by Leav

It's reasonable to be angry at the GDC for this, right?

Well, there was a similar issue in 2007 if you wanted to use the tallest height class (72"). Call it an engineering challenge: 857 has a plan for a 6+ foot robot to fit into a height of about 3.5 feet (~42").

[Gregor]

What happens in the event that a team bags their 78" robot not thinking that they'll have to crate it, and then come ship day they realize they can't fit the robot in the crate?

They can't take anything off as the robot's in the bag already.

[wilderbuchanan]

Also what happens to teams who don't expect to make it to worlds but actually do. What do they do?

[vhcook]

Originally Posted by Leav

So, teams within driving distance from St. louis = 78" high robots. (Bag, tag and bring it on a trailer)

I just rechecked the admin manual and it says all teams traveling to champs must crate and ship. (Section 5.8 item 1)

[asid61]

Originally Posted by vhcook

I just rechecked the admin manual and it says all teams traveling to champs must crate and ship. (Section 5.8 item 1)

That's both funny and annoying at the same time. Like even if you live down the street, it has to be in a crate before it gets to champs?

This rule is probably not going to affect us much, fortunately. Removable subassemblies FTW.

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by asid61

That's both funny and annoying at the same time. Like even if you live down the street, it has to be in a crate before it gets to champs?

This rule is probably not going to affect us much, fortunately. Removable subassemblies FTW.

While creating a removable subassembly might just be part of the challenge this year, it does make creating a stable structure that won't fail while holding at least 10lbs of Recycling Container six feet off the ground a foot out from the robot a heck of a lot more difficult.

[Leav]

Originally Posted by vhcook

I just rechecked the admin manual and it says all teams traveling to champs must crate and ship. (Section 5.8 item 1)

Thanks for that info.
Still, it's reasonable to assume that if you are in the st. louis area your crate would ship via ground and thus the robot could be 65" tall, instead of 55", right?

Maybe we should build a tall crate and design the robot/crate to be fine when laid on it's side? seems like that would make for a very heavy crate.

[Paul Richardson]

Remember also that the crate is a volume, and its diagonal is pretty long...

[Leav]

Originally Posted by Paul Richardson

Remember also that the crate is a volume, and its diagonal is pretty long...

Sure, but it's a limited way to store stuff and still requires you to disassemble the module.

I'm not saying it's impossible to deal with the restriction, it's just that it's not great that the restriction isn't the same for all FRC teams.

[pfreivald]

Thank you very much for the reminder--I hadn't even considered it!

Fortunately I think we can disassemble with (relative) ease to get down to that height.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Leav

Sure, but it's a limited way to store stuff and still requires you to disassemble the module.

I'm not saying it's impossible to deal with the restriction, it's just that it's not great that the restriction isn't the same for all FRC teams.

Meh. It's all part of the game.

Some teams gain an advantage based on time zone for kickoff.

Some teams have better lead times with COTS items.

Some teams can drive to champs, saving a HUGE amount of money.

etc... etc...

It's never going to be fair, and that's fine.

[Leav]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Meh. It's all part of the game.

Some teams gain an advantage based on time zone for kickoff.

Some teams have better lead times with COTS items.

Some teams can drive to champs, saving a HUGE amount of money.

etc... etc...

It's never going to be fair, and that's fine.

I mostly agree, but I think this is a case where the GDC created the unfairness and could easily have avoided it: Transport configuration maximum height 55". Game configuration max height: 78".

But i'm starting to feel like this -> so i'll leave this topic alone..

[Gregor]

Relevant Q&A

https://frc-qa.usfirst.org/Question/...-robot-with-no