Falling off the bar... :\

[illumanat'i]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Um people...

why would you want your bot pulling itself all the way up to the bar?

you dont get any extra points for air under your bot

off the floor means millimeters, not meters

i definately agree, you need, at most, an inch to count, no room for giant falling robot chrashes

and making the robots built to handle what will be thrown at them should be expected... robots get hit, so build them tough

last year, if your robot could fall over on the ramp, you should of put in protection
this year, if your going to try to do chin ups, put in extra padding and prepare for the worst

[KenWittlief]

there is no room up on the center platform for another bot to get a running start and smack you hard

whatever you grab the bar with, it can lock on with a death grip (till death do we part)

[Swampmonkey]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

there is no room up on the center platform for another bot to get a running start and smack you hard

whatever you grab the bar with, it can lock on with a death grip (till death do we part)

Ah, true but if you're only a few inches or so off the platform, all another robot has to do is get one wheel on you or the edge of their robot leaning on you, then that added weight could damage your hook or lift system, so you'd have to factor in it being able to support more weight..

When it comes to robots being destroyed, I'm pessimistic, don't want all our work to go down the drain because of something so minor

[KenWittlief]

but if you are 3 feet in the air, they can still grab you

and if you have a whimpy hook, now you come crashing down at 32ft/sec^2

I will take -50 points to missing my next match anyday.

[Scooter]

You obviously need an airbag system like the Mars rover's...If you go flying, you will bounce.

Bill

[Swampmonkey]

Originally Posted by Scooter

You obviously need an airbag system like the Mars rover's...If you go flying, you will bounce.

Bill

Good luck figuring that one out you'd end up rolling out of the playing field that way..

[IMDWalrus]

Originally Posted by Scooter

You obviously need an airbag system like the Mars rover's...If you go flying, you will bounce.

Bill

Where's Dave when we need him?

[KenWittlief]

would the NASA airbag system cost more than the max $$ single item limit for our bots?

can we buy them on ebay yet?


you inflate one of those things while you are on the bar, and you wont have to worry about any other bot getting anywhere near you

which brings up another question: how how is the ceiling at the regionals?

:c)

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

which brings up another question: how how is the ceiling at the regionals?

In the past, FIRST has stated that minimum clearance would be 20 ft. There isn't a rule about it this year, but I would expect that it would be similar.

[Swampmonkey]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

In the past, FIRST has stated that minimum clearance would be 20 ft. There isn't a rule about it this year, but I would expect that it would be similar.

Dang So much for our jetpack system...back to the drawing boards

[Jay H 237]

When we built our robot in '00 once we grabbed the bar we couldn't let go. We had a "cam" that snapped in place once the dual hooks grabbed on effectively closing the hooks completely around the bar. We decided early on in the build to do this to prevent our robot from getting knocked off. If another robot hit us our bot would basically swing back and forth. If the other robot didn't back up quick enough our robot would swing back into theirs! Also a latch on the arms was activated by a servo once we pulled ourselves up so that when the power was cut at the end of a match the arms wouldn't extend thereby dropping our robot back onto the platform and lossing points. We were also aware of the possibility of damage from other robots so all the electronics were kept towards the center of the robot as possible and all sides were shielded including a "skid plate" underneath. Our robot did recieve "battle scars" but nothing serious. The downside to grabbing the bar and not able to let go is you have to do all your "driving around" in the match before you would consider going for the bar. That could have changed if we added say another servo or something to release the "cam" but our stategy was to keep other robots off the bar (except our alliance).