Defensive climbing bot??

[bobby.rein]

Would a defensive bot that climbs be a strong idea for a rookie team or low resource team? Could also add a passive gear mechanism.

[jayred1127]

Climbing would be a big undertaking. I think as a rookie team a good focus would be scoring fuel and a lot of it.

[g_sawchuk]

I feel like climbing might be a bit tricky for a rookie. With that being said - prototype it. Perhaps we're all overestimating the challenge of hanging on a rope.
An easier option that still presents you as a competitive force on the alliance could be a low goal dumper (large capacity) with a passive gear scorer.
This design also allows you to play defense, of course, should you be on a very strong alliance.

[Rangel]

Originally Posted by bobby.rein

Would a defensive bot that climbs be a strong idea for a rookie team or low resource team? Could also add a passive gear mechanism.

I think this would a be a very strong robot and would be picked at almost every regional/district event as at least a third robot. Being able to place a couple gears would just be icing on the cake.

[fargus111111111]

If you have a really good idea for the climber, by all means go for it. I would think that scoring lots and lots of fuel and gears would be an easier robot, but maybe not. Something to consider with climbing is that there is no rule that I can find that says a defending robot cannot try to keep you from getting to your rope. This means that if a robot can't climb they may devote their last seconds of the match trying to keep you away from your airship. A similar strategy was able to shut down some climbers back in 2013 with a simple "pizza box" robot defending the other pyramid.

[AndyBare]

Originally Posted by fargus111111111

Something to consider with climbing is that there is no rule that I can find that says a defending robot cannot try to keep you from getting to your rope.

The only rule related is
G20.
Let ‘em climb: don’t touch their ROPES. During the final thirty (30) seconds of a MATCH, ROBOTS may not contact an opposing ALLIANCE’S ROPE.

[Ari423]

Originally Posted by AndyBare

The only rule related is G20.

Also...

Originally Posted by G07

G07. Opponent touching their ROPE: don’t touch them. ROBOTS may not contact an opposing ROBOT, regardless of who initiates the contact, if the opposing ROBOT is in contact with one of its own ALLIANCE'S ROPES.

[cj3958]

My advice to you is make sure your gear ratio is high enough and you put a ton of motors on the climbing mechanism. Those are the two biggest ways rookie teams screw up climbing like this. Since you would not be close on weight, I would take a drive train gearbox from vex pro and put 3 cims/775's on it. Then get the right ratio.

[BotDesigner]

Something you might want to keep in mind is if you have a defensive bot you want it to be as heavy as possible and it to use all 6 cim motors in the drive train. Giving your robot those capabilities would make climbing much more difficult.

[bobby.rein]

Okay thanks for all the input. My team is choosing between two designs i came up with.

Design 1: A shooter bot that has floor pick up of fuel and a carrying capacity of 50+. Strategically we would shoot balls in boiler high goal for the entire time and never stop.

Design 2: A climbing robot with a passive gear mechanism. Auto Strategy: Put gear on the lift. Teleop Strategy: Decide between gears and defense based on opponent strengths. End Game we would climb.

Which design do you think is more likely to get us to elimination matches?

[AndyBare]

Originally Posted by Ari423

Also...

Thanks, forgot that one, but super important.

[AndyBare]

Also, Bobby, I think that one thing I'll mention is not only remember to think what your opponents are capable, but also the members of your alliance. Make sure you know how many gears are worth scoring. If you know that your alliance can score six gears in a match, go for it. If you are the only gear scorer, and can score only five, however, there is no point in scoring more than two. This game is very much about prioritizing scoring, and the balance between raw score, and kPa score.

Essentially think of each rotor as a check box. If you know you'll be able to cross it off, go for it. If not, use your time elsewhere.

[bobby.rein]

That is a good point thank you.

[Ari423]

Originally Posted by bobby.rein

Design 1: A shooter bot that has floor pick up of fuel and a carrying capacity of 50+. Strategically we would shoot balls in boiler high goal for the entire time and never stop.

A 50+ hopper is not something to just assume you can do. Each fuel is a 2.5" radius sphere, with a volume of 65.4in^3. Spheres packed at random have a ~60% packing efficiency, so each fuel has an effective volume of 110in^3. A 50 fuel hopper would need a volume of ~5250in^3, or a cube with sides of ~17.5 in. That's not something to assume you can fit in your robot. Let me be clear: I am definitely not saying it is not possible or even that your team can't achieve this. Just that you should make sure your robot can fit such a big hopper, a floor intake, and an output method all inside the volume limits.

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by BotDesigner

Something you might want to keep in mind is if you have a defensive bot you want it to be as heavy as possible and it to use all 6 cim motors in the drive train. Giving your robot those capabilities would make climbing much more difficult.

If a team can figure how to make a 80 pound robot climb, they can probably figure out how to make a 120 pound robot climb.