FRC Blog - Something New - Team 'Standards'

[MrBasse]

While looking over the design requirements for the standards this year, a student raised a good question. The requirements specify that the horizontal supports must have a diameter no larger than 1/2 inch. They specify diameter and to me that means that it has to be round, but they also say that the designs will not be inspected. To the student this means he can do whatever he wants as long as the vertical support is 1/2 inch OD. He has a clever design, but will it cause a problem to not use two round horizontal supports? Thoughts?

I would bring up the spec sheet, but with the new website changing the way all the old links work, I have to dig some more to find exact language and I never thought I would need to print it as it was available online.

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

While looking over the design requirements for the standards this year, a student raised a good question. The requirements specify that the horizontal supports must have a diameter no larger than 1/2 inch. They specify diameter and to me that means that it has to be round, but they also say that the designs will not be inspected. To the student this means he can do whatever he wants as long as the vertical support is 1/2 inch OD. He has a clever design, but will it cause a problem to not use two round horizontal supports? Thoughts?

I would bring up the spec sheet, but with the new website changing the way all the old links work, I have to dig some more to find exact language and I never thought I would need to print it as it was available online.

Workaround link

[MrBasse]

I guess the issue comes down to the fact that the language says what I said before. It specifies diameter so I read that as required to be round. But what harm would be caused by a square horizontal support?

[Lil' Lavery]

While diameter is most frequently associated with circles, it is not exclusive to circles.

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

While diameter is most frequently associated with circles, it is not exclusive to circles.

Never heard any application other than circle, this is straight out of my Drafting text:

A straight line going through the center of a circle connecting two points on the circumference.

What other applications have you used?

[Richard Wallace]

Diameter can be applied to shapes that are not round.

Here is an interesting read on the subject.

Diameter, more generally, is the shortest distance between two parallel lines that touch the figure being measured. For figures that are not round, diameter can vary with orientation; major diameter and minor diameter correspond the orientations that give the maximum and minimum measurements, respectively.

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Diameter can be applied to shapes that are not round.

Here is an interesting read on the subject.

Diameter, more generally, is the shortest distance between two parallel lines that touch the figure being measured. For figures that are not round, diameter can vary with orientation; major diameter and minor diameter correspond the orientations that give the maximum and minimum measurements, respectively.

I've always taught major and minor diameter in reference to ellipses, but the diameter part comes from the construction method of the ellipse, not the end shape. I haven't heard the parallel lines definition before. I might need to read that book to learn some new tricks.

[Richard Wallace]

The UK 50p coin is a famous example of a constant diameter figure that is obviously not round. It fills the space between two parallel lines 27.3 mm apart regardless of orientation.

[igor@levymeiste]

The links are gone on the FIRST site, or at least I cannot find them. Does anyon have the original document?

Thanks

[Ben Wolsieffer]

Originally Posted by igor@levymeiste

The links are gone on the FIRST site, or at least I cannot find them. Does anyon have the original document?

Here is the blog post on the archive site.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by igor@levymeiste

The links are gone on the FIRST site, or at least I cannot find them. Does anyon have the original document?

Thanks

The old links work if you change www to archive

Blog Post:
http://archive.usfirst.org/roboticsp...team-standards

Standard Document
http://archive.usfirst.org/sites/def...s%20public.pdf

[abigailthefox]

Medieval theme=capture the flag+battle bots?????

[oliverchuckle]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

I guess the issue comes down to the fact that the language says what I said before. It specifies diameter so I read that as required to be round. But what harm would be caused by a square horizontal support?

The main problem with a square is that i believe that the component that you use to attach the flag rod to the top of the drivers' station is actually a round hole. Making a square might cause the rod not to fit :/

You could however find some way to narrow it down so it could fit the hole, but even then theres a chance it won't fit too well.

[Daria Wing]

Our team has already started on our standard. Really excited about it because we are Dragons!! I say that it's a great opportunity to have fun while also being creative and professional. If you're having trouble with it, look up medieval standards and just incorporate your team into a simple design.

[The Ginger]

lol