Frame Perimeter

[DBortnick]

Hey Chief Delphi,

I've looked quite a bit through the robot rules, but I wanted to verify with you all that I'm not missing something.

In the past, when there were bumpers, there were requirements about having a rigid frame perimeter. I believe that most of those requirements were for the purposes of making sure that the bumpers had certain lengths of properly reinforced backing and could withstand a hit.

Is there anything in this years game (other than the defined maximum length and width for transportation) that says that we must have a neatly defined perimeter? Specifically, my team is using mecanum wheels for the first time. While our gearboxes, motors, and wheels themselves have all been working to our liking, in a big potential "OH NO" moment, we are now realizing that we don't have room in our width requirements to add on protective outside plating for our mecanum wheels. While I know this isn't ideal, and potentially adds a (significant?) risk of us damaging the wheels, I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't hurt our chances of passing inspection.

Note: we are also NOT using bumpers.

Thoughts?

[Christopher149]

If it's something you could add/remove in <60 seconds and have be secure, that would play well with the Transport Configuration. But the rules this year say nothing about a frame perimeter, and nothing about it being rigid (aside from building robustly).

[DBortnick]

Originally Posted by Christopher149

If it's something you could add/remove in <60 seconds and have be secure, that would play well with the Transport Configuration. But the rules this year say nothing about a frame perimeter, and nothing about it being rigid (aside from building robustly).

Christopher,

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah, we have a few days to try and work around a solution. I just wanted to make sure that our bases were covered if this ends up being our worst case scenario. I'm sure the team will think of something!

[MrForbes]

Also make sure the overall width of the robot in TRANSPORT CONFIGURATION does not exceed 28 inches. Bolt heads count towards the width this year.

[Jon Stratis]

There are no rules relating to a frame perimeter this year. Frames can be articulated, unlike in the past. You can build a "mushroom bot", where the top is bigger than the base. so long as you fit within the transport CONFIGURATION and playing height limit, go nuts!

[Jaywalker1711]

Originally Posted by DBortnick

While our gearboxes, motors, and wheels themselves have all been working to our liking, in a big potential "OH NO" moment, we are now realizing that we don't have room in our width requirements to add on protective outside plating for our mecanum wheels. While I know this isn't ideal, and potentially adds a (significant?) risk of us damaging the wheels, I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't hurt our chances of passing inspection.

Thoughts?

It sounds like you guys made a form of West Coast drive, where the wheels are on the outside of the robot. This is completely legal, and actually a great drive base for this year!

[DBortnick]

Originally Posted by Jaywalker1711

It sounds like you guys made a form of West Coast drive, where the wheels are on the outside of the robot. This is completely legal, and actually a great drive base for this year!

Hah, and totally by accident!