Robot Cart

[AlexanderSaladi]

All of us have to move our robot from the pits to the field and back again. From what I have seen, many teams have simplistic carts that may break or not be great for both use in the pit and transportation.

Do you believe this is an issue? Would you purchase a better cart if it was sold on AndyMark? What would you want out of this cart?

[Hitchhiker 42]

We use a metal hydraulic cart which is definetly fine for our use. Only two problems:

• ridiculously heave when transporting to/from an event
• No space for tools/drive station/other things so drivers don't have to hold them

The first one isn't really an issue, but the second one definetly is.

[Cothron Theiss]

My team actually makes a new cart each year to fit our needs and preferences for each robot. We wouldn't buy a cart from a supplier, mostly because the people that make the cart each year enjoy it and we can make a cart that works better for our needs than a supplier could.

Our carts are usually very simple, with just a table top with a 2x4 border at around waist height. Also, we have a second level just off the ground for storage of tools and such, and one year we had drawers on the bottom level.
For 2015, our cart was a bit more complex. We built a cart out of a hydraulic car jack, so we could transport the robot with the jack lowered and raise the base of the robot to just under waist height when doing maintenance in the pit. We also included extra battery storage, a place for tools, a spot for our driver's station to mount to. It was far more complex than our usual carts, but the height of our robot in 2015 needed the adjustable cart.

[Jon Stratis]

The problem is, there's no "one size fits all" solution to carts. Every robot is different in its length and width, wheel positions, or preferred frame support positions, which makes it really hard to create a single cart that works perfectly for every robot. Then you can add in venue restrictions (like having to fit tall robots through short doorways) and you have trouble having a cart at a working height as well. Add in transportation issues, and you have to worry about the weight of the cart and how it fits into your trailer/truck/bus.

I'm curious how we could solve all of these issues for every team - it would have to be a very creative design! I know my team has used 4 different carts over the past 10 seasons, and each one has tried to address these issues differently.

[MoistRobot]

We use a scissor-lift style cart similar to this. We attached the top from a plastic cart we used to use (something like this) to it.
We attach wood (2X4's usually) every year to customize it to hold that years robot. Works well as an adjustable height work platform in the shop and the pit and for transport to the field. The plastic top makes a good place to temporarily put parts and tools while working on the robot. It's worked well for us for the past five years.

[AllenGregoryIV]

We really like our cart.



It's based off one of 148's designs. It allows us to easily add blocks by screwing in 2x4s or 4x4s to the top level to lift the robot wheels off the ground in various configurations. In years where we have a very tall robot like 2015, we can pull the top deck and the front supports off and just have the lower section (that removes most of the storage but it still works).

We upgraded the handle this year with an integrated rail that holds our driver station.

Here is the full build gallery, we have CAD files if anyone wants them.

Features I like

• Large Non-pneumatic wheels - rolls smoothly and never gets a flat
• lip on the lower section prevents small screws and tools from rolling off
• no lip on the top section allows us to easily sweep off metal shaving, etc
• handle can be put on either side of the cart, not often needed but it makes it easier sometimes
• one set of locking castors and one set of fixed wheels makes it easier to drive this cart then others I've used
• fully removable handle so we can use the cart as a full flat bed sometimes

[EricH]

For a simple but reliable cart, I like 330's. https://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/43852 (under the tetra)--note, this is the second one of this design!

The rails slide back and forth to accommodate different robots; "stuff" goes in the mat underneath. The whole thing can be taken apart to bare frame if need be for transport (or if the handle is tripping people in the pit area again).

[jimbo493]

Here is a pic of ours, it's not the best pic, but the frame is made out of big 80/20, and the orange rails holding the robot are adjustable up and down/removable. It's got some big heavy duty casters, so it runs smoothly, and it was a fairly easy build once we had the right 80/20 hardware, it's been great for the last 3 years, and looks pretty slick with the orange and grey powder coat.

[bobbysq]

Here's our robot cart. It's made of wood recycled from our 2013 crate and has supports that fit onto the underside of our frame. The supports are just screwed on, so they can be swapped out for next year. Also note the space for tools and batteries underneath it.

[BrendanB]

I like carts that have an organized spot for some tool storage mainly drawers like these. Having key tools with you is a nice benefit and I've seen a few teams who've had enough drawers on their cart that most of their hands tools are always with the machine.

I'm a big fan of carts like 4564. Large tires for transporting over obstacles, a spot for the driver station, several drawers for tools, and a nice sized area for the robot. Don't forget about a spot to throw an extra battery or two.

[WesleyK]

Any cart that can hold your robot and is easy to move will work. My team had a simple two shelf cart with Robot on the top shelf and extra stuff(bumpers, batteries, etc.)on the bottom shelf.

[Taylor]

AndyMark used to carry two options, but I think they've been discontinued.

[philso]

Whatever you buy or build, make sure that the wheels are big enough to get over small obstacles like extension cords and the thresholds for doorways. Also ensure that the wheel mounting arrangements are robust enough to take some abuse. The piece of 2x4 with the front casters on our cart started breaking off, probably from being pushed over such obstacles.

[Sparky Jell-0]

For us, it is a literal cart that has a flat top where the robot goes. There are drawers and mini closets built into the cart on the sides where the tools and such that go. The driver station has handles on it that allows easier carrying. we have been using it for years and it has worked for basically any robot.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Here is a link to CAD files for our cart.

https://goo.gl/yHZ7lm