in the pits

[Zippiot]

i have a few questions about wut we can "play with" in the pits. some of them are given nos but i just wanna check
first off can me make a tiny robot (like a 1 foot square bot) equipped with a camera to drive around the pits, we wud steer it from a monitor at our pit, and possibly record it and such.

the next few im sure arent allowed but i wanna be sure
can we fly a r/c blimp with a camera to get a birds eye view of the pits?
can we put giant green halogens on our bot to distract the sensors on other bots?
can we use a hovercraft (made on many small hover "pods") to transport our robot, the hovercrafts will make it extremely easy to move and such. actually at nationals we saw little tug robots used to pull their main bot so i think this one might be allowed.
can we have a camera on the bot that records battles ,wireless it transmits to our pit where we will have a tv/vcr.
if i think of anything else ill post it...

[FusionDude364]

I would think that in an area as crowded in the pits your robot would have serious trouble. It is a cool idea, but the pits are generally very crowded with people (at nationals anyway) and your robot may get stepped on, kicked, etc. If you were thinking using it for scouting purposes then it would be better to just go ask a team questions and take a camera to take pictures of their robot.

[Billfred]

Welcome to ChiefDelphi! (By the way, the locals appreciate punctuation and spelling. There's a spell check right by the post button.)

In the order you asked them... no, you wouldn't be able to drive around a mini-robot. The pit lanes are crowded enough.

As for the blimp, I doubt that would be allowed. Safety, and FIRST Engineering frowns upon wireless cameras, as they tend to use the same frequencies as the robots themselves.

Green halogens? NO, NO, NO. Check the manual for details.

Hovercraft to haul the bot? I can't see why this would be disallowed, assuming it is safe and relatively quiet. However, build that hovercraft to last, or bring a little red wagon just in case.

Again, wireless cameras tend to be disallowed. Have someone contact FIRST about it.

[Zippiot]

thanks for the quick replies, and im sorry for my puncuation and spelling i usually look at the keyboard when i type. are these definate no's or just an educated guess?
as far as the camera goes is there any way to do it or is it just out of the question?
the hovercraft is no louder than the puts themselves, and sice we made it out of 4 small hover pods it doesn't lean, meaning that it stays in place unless we move it.

another question, are there restrictions on "tug bots" (separate bots we make to tow our robot, most likely ride on)?

[russell]

keep in mind that the people on the intercom will flip if they pick up a lot of radio noise coming from the pits. You cannot use your robot with radio modems in the pits (though I was just reading stuff on the controller and its supposed to identify the team number), so if your mini bot, blimp, or any of the rest of the stuff was going to use a radio (900 whatever units i believe is frequency the bots use) you might want to clear it with FIRST first.

[dez250]

Originally Posted by Zippiot

i have a few questions about wut we can "play with" in the pits. some of them are given nos but i just wanna check
first off -(A)- can me make a tiny robot (like a 1 foot square bot) equipped with a camera to drive around the pits, we wud steer it from a monitor at our pit, and possibly record it and such.

the next few im sure arent allowed but i wanna be sure:
-(B)- can we fly a r/c blimp with a camera to get a birds eye view of the pits?
-(C)- can we put giant green halogens on our bot to distract the sensors on other bots?
-(D)- can we use a hovercraft (made on many small hover "pods") to transport our robot, the hovercrafts will make it extremely easy to move and such. actually at nationals we saw little tug robots used to pull their main bot so i think this one might be allowed.
-(E)- can we have a camera on the bot that records battles ,wireless it transmits to our pit where we will have a tv/vcr.
if i think of anything else ill post it...

I Labled them to make it a lil easier to help answer...

-(A)- No this would be a hazard to people moving through the pits and could create some problems.

-(B)- If it contains helium then no, your cant bring helium into FIRST events, its a hazard. Otherwise, maybe but you'll have to clear the camera with FIRST Staff prior to using it.

-(C)- No this is against multiple rules and please see this thread: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=32226

-(D)- I dont know about this, if it is going to be hazardous you probablly will be asked not to use it. I would say test it out make sure its not going to cause any problems and bring a push cart so if you are asked to not use it, you have a backup plan.

-(E)- Like question B, you would have to clear this with FIRST Staff prior to use on the bot, it would have to be fed to a seperate area where recoding can be done off of and it cant be a 900MHz transmission. Check with team 100 about this they have had a camera on their bot before.

Hope some of this helps...

[Zippiot]

wow you guyz are awsome!
so on the blimp i thought that they would have had a problem with sumthing flying around, but is there a rule against it? and if not hellium what to use ( after a deaf left ear and many lost eyebrows i dont plan on using hydrogen)?

[Zippiot]

can we have removeable green plates? i know we would have to weight in with them on.
also any rules on the tug bot (like a slow tank drive kart thing)?

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Zippiot

can we have removeable green plates?

NO. Read the manual and search these forums. You'll get answers to these questions a lot faster.

[jzampier]

Being heavily involved w/ the Finger Lakes Regional on various levels... I'll definitely tell you that the Blimp is out. There will be a lot of overhead equipment and it is certainly a safety hazard.

[Zippiot]

thats wut i thought about the blimp, but wut about the tug kart? wut r the restrictions on a powered kart 9tug the robot on a trailer behind it)?
my team really wants to build one and we got the materials for it.

[jzampier]

This is an experience related answer...
Powered carts are usually frowned on. Mostly because they are harder to
control (ie stop.) than something you pull/push.
That and people associate them with car stereos... (long story)

Summary:
No rule against it that I know of.. but your time and resources are probably
better spent elsewhere.
Other things to spend the time on:
1. Nice portable workstation/Pit area for competition
2. Researching sensors/other cool electronics for auto control.
3. prototyping a base for the controls team to use for testing.

again, for this ?, this is just my $0.02

[Andy A.]

Originally Posted by Zippiot

thats wut i thought about the blimp, but wut about the tug kart? wut r the restrictions on a powered kart 9tug the robot on a trailer behind it)?
my team really wants to build one and we got the materials for it.

Zippiot-

Strictly speaking there are no restrictions on a powered cart in the manual. Site specific rules on this may differ. Many teams do have and use them. As long as you are not transmitting anything, not using any hazardous materials and do not present a hazard (like running people down with it), it probably won't be an issue.

However, speaking from my own experience, powered carts are more of a pain then they are worth. They tend to be clumsy, to slow or to fast, prone to failure and take up valuable space in the pits. Some teams seem to like them, but they are a minority. Invest your time or money in a good non powered cart. It won't be as flashy, but it will get you and your bot to the field with a minimum of hassle.

What ever you do, remember that you're cart will need to be pushed over some pretty annoying cable covers and through tight spaces. Nice pneumatic wheels and a steerable end are very advantageous. Think Radio Flyer, but bigger.

-Andy A.

[Zippiot]

wut about a hovercraft trailer towed behind a tug, that wud make the trailer have very little weight so it wud be easy to tow.
i know about the car speakers thing, it just irritates me how a team can spend that much on a big useless thign while other teams (who beat them and won the regionals btw) have to pay their own way to regionals and nationals.
last year my team had to carry hundreds of pounds of crap across a college campus to thearena, a tug thign wud make that so mch eaier, and it give sus sumthin to play with outside during our downtime between matches...thats my excuse to build, that and we have a mon th between ship date and comp date. i cud do it at my house also, its jsut a fram with motors and wheels nuthin special.

[Zippiot]

so its a no to the removeable panels, but wut about a shell for the robot (fits over the frame to protect it and such) we cud have 2 different color ones, a green and a black so that if we have a sensing bot on our team we can change it prior to the match to avoid problems.