Woody - 130 pounds?

[Beta+]

On the webcast just now, Woody just described the robot as 130 pounds.

Slip... or error?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Beta+

On the webcast just now, Woody just described the robot as 130 pounds.

Slip... or error?

Memory. That's the robot max weight prior to 2004 (or maybe 2005), when the limit dropped to 120 but excluded the battery for the first time.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by Beta+

On the webcast just now, Woody just described the robot as 130 pounds.

Slip... or error?

It really doesn't matter.

Regardless of whether the max allowed weight is 10 pounds or 1,000 pounds, everyone is going to need at least one ounce more.

[Sperkowsky]

120 pounds plus bumper weight

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

120 pounds plus bumper weight

Perhaps they're going to include bumper weight in robot weight to prevent teams from maxing out bumper weight for extra weight. We're guilty of this...we used welded steel angle on our bumpers. It's free extra weight down low, so why not? We cut a lot of weight from our drivetrain, so we make it up elsewhere that's free and down low.

[Sam Skoglund]

Minibot Weight?

[jaredhk]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Perhaps they're going to include bumper weight in robot weight to prevent teams from maxing out bumper weight for extra weight. We're guilty of this...we used welded steel angle on our bumpers. It's free extra weight down low, so why not? We cut a lot of weight from our drivetrain, so we make it up elsewhere that's free and down low.

If there are even bumpers this year.

Change is coming back

[maxnz]

Originally Posted by jaredhk

If there are even bumpers this year.

There will be, they confirmed that months ago.

[Type]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Perhaps they're going to include bumper weight in robot weight to prevent teams from maxing out bumper weight for extra weight. We're guilty of this...we used welded steel angle on our bumpers. It's free extra weight down low, so why not? We cut a lot of weight from our drivetrain, so we make it up elsewhere that's free and down low.

We did that horribly. After our second event, we learned our CoG was way out of wack, so we "stiffened" our bumpers in the front using 1" thick solid stainless steel bumper mounts It did stiffen our bumper mounts and extreme amount though so it benefited multiple ways

[chandrew]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Perhaps they're going to include bumper weight in robot weight to prevent teams from maxing out bumper weight for extra weight. We're guilty of this...we used welded steel angle on our bumpers. It's free extra weight down low, so why not? We cut a lot of weight from our drivetrain, so we make it up elsewhere that's free and down low.

We are also very guilty of this. In 2014 our robot was a had a little of a high center of gravity and we fixed it by increasing bumper weight. It would make a lot of sense for them to put bumpers in the weight limit to account for this, especially of they are expecting to see more high CoG robots this year.

[GeeTwo]

We'll find out tomorrow morning. Chill.

[jaredhk]

Originally Posted by maxnz

There will be, they confirmed that months ago.

I know. I know. But a part of me just doesn't want to believe it. Rest in Peace 2015.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Making bumpers heavy has been allowed as long as it's part of the allowed bumper material or the mounts. Making brackets heavy etc is allowed. They changed it a few years ago so the angle on the edges of the bumpers had to be aluminum instead of any metal. Mounts aren't specified.

Putting bumpers in the weight would cause the opposite problem which is far worse in my mind. Teams would try to make their bumpers lighter. I really don't want to deal with thin fabric and light wood. That will lead to more rips and broken bumpers and that is not something I want.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

Putting bumpers in the weight would cause the opposite problem which is far worse in my mind. Teams would try to make their bumpers lighter. I really don't want to deal with thin fabric and light wood. That will lead to more rips and broken bumpers and that is not something I want.

As I looked through old rules, I recall that in several years' rules, there was a maximum weight of bumpers per linear inch. If there's a maximum length of the frame perimeter, a maximum bumper weight would be reasonable, to limit sandbagging.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

As I looked through old rules, I recall that in several years' rules, there was a maximum weight of bumpers per linear inch. If there's a maximum length of the frame perimeter, a maximum bumper weight would be reasonable, to limit sandbagging.

There has been a max bumper weight. It's been 20lbs the past few seasons. Most teams come no where near it. Bumpers should have a weight limit, we could even lower it. We just can't have teams trading robot weight for bumper weight (in terms of making their bumpers lighter).