Robot Cart Suggestions

[KTorak]

We whipped together a cart at about 11:30 PM the night before our Regional. It's made so the robot rests on its frame, has casts, 2 subs, 2 speakers, 17in LCD, amp, modded xbox w/ wireless controllers, and batter/tool storage.

[i_am_Doug]

Well it depends on the size and shape of you bot but... id go wil a small steel cart with independent wheels and try to find one with a small drawer or mail it to me (ill make you one ) but the thing is if its too tall low over hangs might be a problem and if too short you might get stuck on some random object on the ground so try for some thing like 6 to 8 inches off the ground. AND WHOA if you look though all my posts this is my longest one ever. i think im turning smart! this might be bad.....

[Mr.G]

Our cart we got this year worked great with places to store the following.

Holds 2 Battery's in back tray's.
Holds 6 Battery's and 2 chargers on front tray.
Has 2 compressors from prior years robots.
Has ~3 gallon air tank.
Has 3 drawers for tools.
Holds 2 joysticks and the RC on the top tray.
Robot height can be adjusted up and down 1 foot.
At current height a full sized robot can fit through most doors while on cart.

[i_am_Doug]

^ that is FREAKING SWEET

[EricH]

Our cart is pretty simple. Welded frame with medium size pneumatic tires. It has a method for turning it into a workstand, but we never use that. Removable handle. Painted with our team colors. This year we added a mat to the frame that can carry a basic tool set and a battery. The cool thing is that the robot rests on a pair of rails that can be adjusted to the robot in about 5 minutes. just loosen about 4 screws per rail, slide the rail, tighten the screws.

One thing about speakers is that FIRST does not like them on. The At The Event section of the manual says something about playing music, including cart music. I can't remember just what.

[Alex Pelan]

Our cart looks something like this:



Now that's a pimp cart if I've ever seen one.

Seriously though, this cart has its advantages. It is very easy to transport the robot, and is also very easy to store, and cheap to ship, when it comes to competitions that are farther away or inaccessible by car. As much as we'd like to build one with a sound system, underglow, etc, there are still issues with transporting it and whatnot.

[Specialagentjim]

Originally Posted by Evan Austin

Last year we had a two-wheel drive robot that rolled very easily. We also had a cart that rolled like it had square wheels. We got tired of it and finally just rolled the robot from the pit to the field with no cart at all. We loved it because we didn't have a cart to move out of the way or try to maneuver through the pits in Chicago. We did use our cart in Atlanta, though, because we didn't want to roll the robot that far.

Just as a note to the rookie teams, don't do this if your drive motors are attached to the wheels your pushing it on. There's an effect you're probably familiar wtih called backdrive (where the motor acts as a generator by being turned by the wheel). This causes quite a bit of voltage to go back to the victor, leaving a bit of voltage flowing INTO the OUT side of it. This is bad. (I don't know about other teams, but back in the 883's we used to fry quite a few due to backdrive).


As far as our cart, we have one thats made out of aluminum extrusion and anodized diamond plate, but its too bulky, doesnt move very well, and has now been replaced by a handcart we bought at home depot. I think the team is formulating plans to be build a new motorized cart, but thats just speculation at this point.

Oh, and whoever brought their cart to the team party: I bow in the presence of greatness. Good work.

[aziandorkess]

our principles of engineering class designed workbenches individually, and the class voted for one. the robotics advisor had the final say, and the class built it. it was a fun project.

[Vu2000]

I've been thinking about building one for a while, but the question that always comes to mind is how do you transport that thing long distances from your city to like a faraway regional or the championship. I'm guessing you take it by bus or someone drives it a VERY LONG distance. Right now we just bring a little dolly that built out of 2x4's and some casters. This alone already feels like an inconvenience to check in.

[Lindsey]

Originally Posted by Specialagentjim

Oh, and whoever brought their cart to the team party: I bow in the presence of greatness. Good work.

That would be us, The Robostangs team 548. See Tammy's post earlier for cart details.

Originally Posted by Vu2000

I've been thinking about building one for a while, but the question that always comes to mind is how do you transport that thing long distances from your city to like a faraway regional or the championship. I'm guessing you take it by bus or someone drives it a VERY LONG distance.

Moving the cart around isn't too bad, we have a team trailer that we bring to all our competitions so we just bring the cart in that. When we don't feel like using the trailer, we just take all the seats out of a mini van.

Lindsey

[ClintDog]

We have a dolly, it looks kinda like 177's!!!

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Vu2000

I've been thinking about building one for a while, but the question that always comes to mind is how do you transport that thing long distances from your city to like a faraway regional or the championship. I'm guessing you take it by bus or someone drives it a VERY LONG distance. Right now we just bring a little dolly that built out of 2x4's and some casters. This alone already feels like an inconvenience to check in.

Got any room in your crate? No limit to what goes in. Just make sure of two things: one, make sure the cart, robot, and all necessary toolboxes fit, and two, secure it somehow. Last thing you need is the robot destroyed by the cart during shipping (OK, I'm exaggerating, but still...).

[Cory]

Originally Posted by EricH

Got any room in your crate? No limit to what goes in. Just make sure of two things: one, make sure the cart, robot, and all necessary toolboxes fit, and two, secure it somehow. Last thing you need is the robot destroyed by the cart during shipping (OK, I'm exaggerating, but still...).

And three: make sure it isn't overweight, because MCS will charge you an absolutely exorbitant amount (and might even if you aren't. FedEx weighed our crate in at 280 when they took possession of it. Somehow in transit to Sacramento it gained about 120lbs and MCS charged us a whole boatload for it).

[coastertux]

We have this cart:
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT...PMPXNO=4556954
We are going to modify it to fit our robot.

[Aren_Hill]

1625 might build a cart with two wheel chair motors in the back and casters in the front a stand on the back for the person who drives it were planning a scissor lift to raise it from around 6 in off the ground to around 36 or so.
anyone have a suggestion should i use pneumatics of hydraulics steal a car jack cylinder or something. to pimp it out anodized aluminum leds and a fog machine maybe. any help with the piston problem would be appreciated we have the pneumatics and compressor from the 2005 season.