Front or Back Intake

[steve3408]

Hey guys. This is my first thread on here, so bear with me. Which system is better for the boulders for eventual forward shooting/passing: a front intake or back intake system? Thanks.

[RPM24]

That depends on your launching mechanisim

[Taylor]

There are a lot of factors in play here.
I'm going to define "front" as the leading edge of the robot as it traverses toward your opponent's tower.

For scoring purposes, it would make sense to put it in front IF your pickup mechanism and your scoring mechanism are the same.

For retrieving the boulder from the midline, it would make sense to put it in back - that way you wouldn't have to turn around to go back through the Outer Works.

For traversing the Defenses, that depends on if your boulder manipulator device can also manipulate the defenses that need manipulating while holding a boulder. If so, put it in front; if not, put it in the back for protection purposes.

Another consideration: if the boulder intake is in front, that would theoretically make it more liable to be struck by opposing robots, so make it robust to survive strikes from many different directions.

Do some prototyping on different systems, see how they could fit together, and based on your findings, you may find your robot designs itself.

[Joseph Smith]

I'm willing to bet that some teams are planning on having both.

[MrForbes]

I hadn't thought about the back intake, it might solve a problem we noticed. Thanks!

[GeeTwo]

We'll pick it up from the side.

Seriously, I'm not really sure which end of our robot will be designated the front. Most of our designs have the boulder intake and launching on opposite sides, so I checked "back".

Edit:

Originally Posted by MrForbes

This year, I consider the end that drives first through the defenses to be the "front". But you may decide differently.

We may not drive through every defense the same direction.

[MrForbes]

This year, I consider the end that drives first through the defenses to be the "front". But you may decide differently.

[Jon Stratis]

To me, "front" and "back" is a code issue. Sure, if everything happens out of one side of your robot, then it can be called the front. But if things happen out of opposite sides, why not include a switch on the driver station that lets you switch which way the robot moves when you push the joysticks foward?

[cjl2625]

I'll assume "front" refers to the shooter and harvester being on the same side, and "back" meaning the harvester is on the opposite side.

I'm kind of in favor of "front" in that case, to consolidate the shooter and harvester into one subsystem, and then have more room on the back to add manipulators, climbers, etc.

[aidanl78]

This discussion has come up with us too, for the sake of saving time in the match, have both, one in front and one in back, it will take up more space on the robot and more time to build however, it will prevent you from needing to do 180', the whole match for a boulder

[jodge1706]

Originally Posted by Joseph Smith

I'm willing to bet that some teams are planning on having both.

Definitely planning on having both. It will be so much easier to be able to get the ball from either direction, less time spent on trying to line an intake up to get it. This is yet another concept you can prove by looking at games like Rebound Rumble

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by jodge1706

Definitely planning on having both. It will be so much easier to be able to get the ball from either direction, less time spent on trying to line an intake up to get it. This is yet another concept you can prove by looking at games like Rebound Rumble

I'm not sure that analogy applies. In Rebound Rumble, teams got several game pieces then went to score them. In Stronghold, teams are limited to one game piece at a time. In RR, the travel path went through the game pieces to the next destination. In S, the game piece is the destination.

[Sperkowsky]

The back or and front of our robot are not going to exist as our programmer is going to program a button to invert this. That way we never have to drive backwards.

[Coach Seb]

Are you thinking some type of turret ?

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Coach Seb

Are you thinking some type of turret ?

Not a turret, but a boulder path that goes over, through, or under the robot as it proceeds from pickup to launch.