pic: Touching the ramp?!

[CD47-Bot]

loading photo ...

[David Lantz]

The picture isn't of that great of quality, but I'd have to say that it looks like you might be touching the ramp.
If you look even closer at the right rear (the bot's right) wheel you'll see that it isn't touching the top and the last time that I knew no one was able to balance their robot on only 2 wheels. But its a close call and I'm sure the refs had a better view than I do

[KenWittlief]

our battery is just in front of the back wheels, so our center of balance is behind the middle of the bot.

In one match, we lost a front wheel completely, and were still able to drive up the ramp.

I see what you mean about the back wheel - light under it

BTW - this photo was shot on ASA400 film with a 135mm lens, the image posted was scanned at 600dpi.

[OneAngryDaisy]

Originally posted by David Lantz
The picture isn't of that great of quality, but I'd have to say that it looks like you might be touching the ramp.
If you look even closer at the right rear (the bot's right) wheel you'll see that it isn't touching the top and the last time that I knew no one was able to balance their robot on only 2 wheels. But its a close call and I'm sure the refs had a better view than I do

At Chesapeake in either the semis or quarterfinals Moe (365) balanced on one wheel.. it was amazing as they pulled up on the ramp with no time to spare

[GregT]

Guess what, 639 wasn't touching the ramp either. Did we post a picture saying how professional it was that we didn't argue with the refs over it? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

This was the first round anyways, if we had lost that one our strategy would've changed the second time around and we may have still one, the scores of the two matches are not independent. If we lost the first match, we would've put a different robot in and attempted to score more points.

[KenWittlief]

If your bot wasnt touching the ramp anywhere and you lost out on 25 points, then why didnt you say anything?!

I posted the photo becasue it shows how that a fraction of an inch is the difference between winning and losing. When two teams are so closely matched that they have to get the micrometers out to see who won - thats pretty exciting.

And it also reminds us to not take ourselves so seriously. I dont know why you only got points for one bot on the ramp - I dont know what the other side of the ramp looked like - or maybe one of your bots was dragging a piece of bumper or wire or something.

I saw one match where a team lost the 25 points because they had put a little flag on their bot so they could see it on the other side of the field, and the flag was touching the top of the sidewall.

I thought it was pretty cool that after the 6 weeks of building and two regionals, it all came down to this for us - we lost by what? a few thousands of an inch?

OK - you totally womped us

by a hair! :c)

[KenWittlief]

BTW - if WE had won that match we would of totally rebuilt our robot between matches

and we would have given it magical powers

and we would of gotten a PERFECT SCORE on the second match!

so NAh nah Nah nah NAH!

:c)

[Frank H Currier]

If the ramp was constructed according to the plans and to the specs Woodie gave at the kick off in Manchaster NH this bot and any of the others that were "touching the ramp" would not have been. The HDPE was supposed to be 1/2" above the wire mesh the ramp was made out of. First added what looks like a support plate to the top of the ramp which brings the height of the ramp above the HDPE.

[Marc P.]

The refs did what we called "the paper test" for bots in this situation. if one sheet of the scoring tablets could slide, unobstructed, under the area of stipulation, the bot was on. If the paper got stuck, it was off. There were times where all 5 refs had to do the paper test to concur on any result. We also had to be careful not to walk on the top of the ramp, as it did upset the balance of some bots. (I successfully slid a paper under one bot, once another ref stood on top of the ramp, it wouldn't go through, once he got off, it went through again). Be assured the refs do all they can to ensure a proper call is made, even if it is a tough one.

[kristen]

Why does it even matter anymore? The Canadian regional is over, so just accept the decision and move on. It was definitly close, though.

[KenWittlief]

this thread has gotten a little derailed, partly due to Chief Delphi's shoddy website [ <= just joking!!! ]

the caption for the photo doesnt show up in the 'discuss the photo' thread - so you cant see my original comments from when the photo was posted.

Im not complaining that we lost - Im NOT saying we should have won - one of our students took the photo - and it shows how close these matches come out sometimes - I thought that was cool - thats all!

there is no contriversy here! :c)

photo caption snarfed from galley page:

"the Judge in QF3.1 said we were touching the ramp, and we did not get the 25 points for this match.

If we did, then the score would of been 39 to 34 (instead of 14 to 34) and we would have won the match, and the quarterfinal - 124 to 121).

But thats how it goes. We accept the judges call, even though it looks like the card under our wheel is bowed.

Failure is really opportunity for improvement in a black robe :c)"

[The Lucas]

Originally posted by OneAngryDaisy
At Chesapeake in either the semis or quarterfinals Moe (365) balanced on one wheel.. it was amazing as they pulled up on the ramp with no time to spare

Check out that match md_qf2m2 at http://www.soap108.com/2003/movies/md/

We were touching the ramp in that match QF2M2 and didnt get the 25 pts (still won 69-68 on bins). We got up on 3 wheels, since our cg is heavily toward the back when there is no stack in the front. However, a wire tire (not the wheel's tread) on the rear left wheel that holds our tread onto our wheel was barely touching the metal strip at the top. Remember it is not the only the wire grating but the metal strip between the grating and the HDPE that u have to avoid to be on top of the ramp.

It was a really close call. Dean Kamen (who was attending the new regional) was the first on the seen to investigate (u cant see him from the video's angle). He seemed to think GeroniMOE was on but the Head Ref said no. We all chanted "Paper!" but they never used the calibrated contact tester. I'll try to get a good pic of this.