bot carts. need info!

[sburro]

Originally Posted by 1075master

all i can find are 05 docs where did u get this info??

http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/doc_updt.htm

section 7.3.5

To make sure your team members are safe when they are going from the Pit to the competition area, bring some type of cart to transport your heavy robot. The carts must remain in the team pit area when not in use for robot transportation. All carts should fit through a standard 30-inch door. Cart wheels must not damage site
flooring.

[1075master]

ha but its not on that page u can't get to it u can only get '05 info u have to go here

[aaeamdar]

Concurring with a lot of people here. Go with a simple thing with a handle. Make /sure/ it can support 130 pounds though.

Just my 2cp

[generalbrando]

Building something is great and my team would love to do it if we had the time and resources.

However, what I've also seen a lot is teams mod'ing carts that you can buy which already do what you described. Buzz has a cart with a medium sized tool chest on it. Personally, I don't care for having a driven cart. I'm more interested in having nice big wheels and being able to lift the robot to working level. To accomplish this, check out industrial suppliers like MSC for mobile lift tables. The name varies from supplier to supplier. Depending on the size and features, you can get one for as little as $400 or as much as $10k. That's a hefty price for many teams, but if you can afford it, it's probably worth it.

[scott]

I'd like to stress a simple cart again. In 2004, we (447) had a cart with AirRide on board. It was nice to raise the robot to work on, but the added weight made it a pain to steer. We asked our local Lowe's for one of their old beat-up flatbed carts for the Flower Section. Fixed it up, did a little bit of welding and added a little pan under it for storage, and it works great!

[Peter Matteson]

I just wanted to throw out a reminder weight can equal painful shipping costs. We looked at using a surplused electrified lift cart from my company. Only the lift was electric but the weight of the cart was so great the shipping cost would have been outrageous to get it to nats. Also it was not easy to load in and out of a vehicle so we went another way.

[DUCKIE]

As a queuer with 2 years experience... I also concur that it is best to keep it simple... but not too small or too big.

The biggest pain to move carts seemed to be the large motorized ones
(as many were not too hot on the turning thing... or it took them a little while to get it powered up to move... when we needed them to move quickly so they could move down a narrow walkway to the other end of the field before the next match started.)

and the really small/cheep dolly carts... that were like 1' x 1' with the dinky caster wheels. (always a pain to move over cable protectors... and i was not too keen to be putting my hand under a 130 lb. robot that could easily slide off of it... and onto my hand.)

I also recommend that you keep the center of gravity of the robot and cart... somewhat low... at least durring transport... tippy robots/carts = bad!

---------------------------

If you have the time / want to design and build your own cart...

-think about having the robot supported on the cart by it's chassis and not it's wheels. (that way... it will not roll off the top of the cart (VERY BAD!) and you can also run/test your drive system in the pits without even taking it off the cart.)
-"easy transport / packing" (ours is made of bosch... and itsn't too hard to disassemble/reassemble)
-locking wheels (for those occasional inclines)
-storage/shelving (good to be able to carry at least some basic tools and a tether in case you need to reset quickly)

[dhitchco]

When you think about a robot cart, consider the "bigger picture".

1) How can you construct a robot cart that is lightweight and easily transportable from the school to the regional and possibly to the championship. Shipping & transportation of the bot cart should be part of your consideration.

2) Think about the various heights at which your bot cart should be able to "elevate". You may want the bot cart to be able to rise/lower itself to different heights when working on the upper or lower parts of your robot.

3) Think about safetly when you are putting the robot on and off of the cart. Namely, how can the cart be lowered so you can safely lift (or ramp-up) the robot without straining your backs? The same holds true when "delivering" the robot onto the playing field. How can you design a cart that makes it easier and safer than two people tripping over the field side rails when enering/exiting the arena (yeah, i know they also have removable panels.....but I've seen many players almost drop the robot when moving it)

4) A motorized bot cart may be nice for the long haul tunnel in Atlanta, but as other have stated, many of the regionals have short walks to/from the pit area, and the "traffic" often comes to a quick stop.....can your motorized cart do that safely?

[Donut]

You might want to also consider, regardless of whether it is motorized or not, making a cart that can be partially or completely disassembled. The cart our team had 2 years ago was a large slab of wood with short sides and casters, and was rather wide to fit in cars and through some doors. The new cart we have is designed so that we can adjust the height of the rails the robot rests on and the entire cart can be taken apart and fit in a very small, narrow area. A cart that can be taken apart is extremely easy to transport and tends to be pretty light.

You might also want to ask sponsors/mentors for help with your cart. One of our mentors asked our main sponsor about help for building a new cart, they asked him what we wanted it to do, and they came up with a design for it and sent it to us.

[KenWittlief]

another requirement for your cart design. It will also be used to move the bot, and probabally other stuff as well, from your bus across a parking lot to the regional pit (maybe a long distance - in the rain or snow) and you might want to use it to make several trips to move tool boxes and team buttons and cases of drinking water

it would be a real drag if you had to get your cart across a parking lot in the pouring rain, and it would only go 2.5mph, or the batterys die in the parking lot on the 5th trip

and consider other events too, local off season competitions, when you may not have a coachline bus to carry your cart?

[Donut]

To build off the last comment, if you intend on using your cart to move materials from outside to the regional pit, make sure anything built on it can withstand the elements, we don't carts shorting out from rain in the parking lots!