pic: Ground Clearance (or the lack thereof)

[ahmed]

loading photo ...

[roboguy #1]

Hey low rider has a a new low. wowsa! Just watch out for snagging the carpet.

[Kyle]

Wow that looks like it is lower then the ground it's self What do you think will happen if there is a snag in the carpet, or if there is some debris on the field? That is cool looking though.

[Brad Lanpher]

Wow, thats really low. Hope you don't get caught on something during the competition. I like the etching work you did on the frame.

[jdiwnab]

We're about as tall as that (at least the chassis is) but we have about 3/4 of an inch clearence. But we were getting stuck in floor dips. Think of that too.

[OneAngryDaisy]

very smooth, looks nice- I would suggest testing on carpet all of the time, in 2002 we had a low-riding part of our robot but we only tested on concrete, come game time we didn't understand why our robot was so slow- turns out the bottom was scraping against the carpet the entire time.. it wasn't fun modifying half of our robot at the last minute, I can tell you that...

we overlook the importance of testing on carpet too much, its better to know when you can make the modifications IN your shop instead of in the middle of a crowded pit area..

[ahmed]

Snagging carpet is really our main concern. And since all of you asked, I have no clue yet as to how the thing handles carpet as we aren't driving yet--if things go as planned we should be ready to test-drive tomorrow.

[Julia Magoolia]

Originally Posted by ahmed

if things go as planned we should be ready to test-drive tomorrow.

But when do things ever go as planned?
It does look really nice. Ours isn't nearly as low... but not for lack of trying.

[Mike33]

bet it must fit in the crate easily. Low-ride-er

[russell]

Keep in mind that the loading zones are made of 1/4" plastic. I like that though. Nice and low.

[ahmed]

Originally Posted by russell

Keep in mind that the loading zones are made of 1/4" plastic.

I actually wasn't aware of that, thanks for posting

[russell]

You might want to check me on that, thats just what I read somewhere else around here.

[Goobergunch]

Don't worry, you're correct.

Originally Posted by Section 3.2.1 of the Manual

Two colored Loading Zones are located in each quadrant of the Playing Field. The Loading Zone is colored red or blue, to correspond with the alliance located at the respective end of the field. The zone is in the shape of an equilateral triangle of three feet per edge, constructed of 1/4” HDPE, and attached to the carpet with Velcro. The zones in each quadrant are located immediately adjacent to the gate opening in the Guardrail System of that quadrant.

HDPE stands for High Density PolyEthylene

[Kevin Sevcik]

You should probably also consider the fact that this would make you very easy to high center. If one end of your robot ends up more than half an inch or so off the ground, you'd probably be left with all 4 wheels in the air and little recourse.

[Denman]

"Traction devices may not have surface features such as metal, sandpaper, or hard plastic studs, cleats, or other attachments. Anchors, i.e. devices that are deployed/used to keep one’s robot in one place and prevent if from being moved by another robot, cannot use metal in contact with the carpet or other playing surfaces to 'stay put.'"
i dont know if the robot base rubbing on the ground counts under this , but you want to be careful.