Contact with the Rack

[Cody Carey]

So as long as your robot isn't attached to the rack, you can move/shake it however you want to...

[robotguru1717]

Originally Posted by Cody C

I am having trouble finding the rule about this, can you point it out?

6-The arenda. page 5 or 8 on the rack. mid way

The platform is firmly attached to the floor of the Playing Field

[ahecht]

The platform is firmly attached, but the rack is only connected to the platform with loose chains, and can (and probably will) move.

[Dylan Gramlich]

According to <G07> the rack can be moved as in slide by the judges once both alliances have positioned their robots.The Rack can be slide inside of a 3ft radius of the middle of the field. this eliminates alot of dead reconing. it does swing as well.

[Bethany Mc.]

Originally Posted by 6 foot 8

The rack does not spin as far as I know but does shake from side to side from contact if you watch the video with Dean and Woody.

this is true, but I don't see anything on it not moving during the match, if you look at <G07>
"Center RACK position - After all six ROBOTS are in their starting positions and theDRIVERS, COACHES and HUMAN PLAYERS are in the ALLIANCE ZONE, the RACK willbe moved (translated and/or rotated) to an arbitrary position so that the center of the RACKis within a 3 foot radius of the playing field center but the exact location and orientation ofthe RACK is unpredictable. After this point in time no ROBOT may be moved or repositioned until the match starts."-from manual

Is there more that I haven't read the entire thing yet, but nothing states, that I have read, about it being bolted down. If it moves at the beginning of the match i wouldn't think it would, because then you would have holes in the field.

[Bethany Mc.]

Originally Posted by robotguru1717

6-The arenda. page 5 or 8 on the rack. mid way

well it you look at 6.2.2 it states that "a set of loose chains" is connected to a small platform at the center of the field, not saying anything about robots being able to rotate it during the match.

The platform being the thing the chain is attached to.

[Sislith]

I think hole thing can be move after the start of the match but the chance of a robot being able to move the massive weight of the rack is not very likely. The one our teams assembled is very heavy and it's just wood and pvc pipes.

[Cyberguy34000]

It's not illegal to move, barring your robot doesn't grab it. But if you look at the construction, the only thing holding it down is friction and those chains connected to the foundation.

And if it can be moved... It will be moved.

With violent impacts to the side or robots in pushing matches with some killer low torque, moving that Rack will probably happen quite a bit. Granted, it probably won't move more than a few inches at a time, but it'll add up.

-Chris

[+()c|D]

Originally Posted by Bethany Mc.

well it you look at 6.2.2 it states that "a set of loose chains" is connected to a small platform at the center of the field, not saying anything about robots being able to rotate it during the match.

So the question is...

can a robot, intentionally or otherwise, move, or rotate the goal???

[k3`]

We were thinking the same thing. Technically, if you have a bot (granted that it has enough torque, weight, and meets the specs) move it for the whole round, nobody would be able to score.

[Dominicano0519]

Originally Posted by T. Hoffman

As long as you aren't damaging the rack, you aren't actively attaching to or grabbing the rack (pushing only), and as long as you take care to not descore hanging tubes (penalty points if you do), I do believe it is currently legal to shake the chains (fairly easy) and even move the whole assembly (difficult and somewhat pointless).

can you phisically rotate it?, not legaly, i got the legal part.

[Jack Jones]

<G33> Field interaction - ROBOTS may push or react against any elements of the field, provided
there is no damage or disruption of the field elements. ROBOTS may not grab, grasp,
grapple, or attach to any field structure. If a ROBOT violates this rule, the head referee will
give one warning. If the referee determines that the TEAM is disregarding the warning, their
ROBOT will be disabled for the remainder of the match.

The way I read it is that the spiders and chains are meant to move/sway; so pushing them would not cause a disruption.

OTOH, the base of the rack will be (I'm guessing) Valcro-ed to the carpet; so, pushing hard enough to rotate, translate, or tip the whole thing would cause disruption, which would lead to a warning first, then disablement if they did it again.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

The way I read it is that the spiders and chains are meant to move/sway; so pushing them would not cause a disruption.

OTOH, the base of the rack will be (I'm guessing) Valcro-ed to the carpet; so, pushing hard enough to rotate, translate, or tip the whole thing would cause disruption, which would lead to a warning first, then disablement if they did it again.

I retract what I said a bit ago (deleted the post) - I think moving the chains while not trying to score will be frowned upon. But the chains will shake, rattle, and roll like crazy as multiple robots attempt to score tubes on the spiders. Contact with the spiders seems to be permitted during scoring attempts, as long as your robot is not actively attaching to/grabbing any part of the rack assembly.

The rack is heavy, but it is not secured rigidly down to any one location on the carpet, because refs must randomly slide and/or rotate the beast to reposition it anywhere within a 3' radius of the center of the field prior to the start of each match. However, I believe that moving the entire assembly intentionally once the match starts will be considered against the rules (in addition to being kinda pointless).

Defense is meant to be played directly against other robots, via the stated rules.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I thought the rack would be on wheels...at least that's the way it looked in the pics. The manual does say that the center platform will be firmly attached to the ground, but it sounds to me like you could push the rack up to one foot in any direction as that would be 'reacting to game elements without damaging them', or even rotate the rack.

<6.2.2>To constrain the motion of the RACK, the structure is connected by a set of loose chains to a small platform located at the center of the field. The platform is firmly attached to the floor of the Playing Field. The slack in the chains connecting the structure to the platform permit the RACK to translate approximately one foot in any direction, and freely rotate around the platform.

[+()c|D]

Originally Posted by Dianna Bartone

The manual does say that the center platform will be firmly attached to the ground, but it sounds to me like you could push the rack up to one foot in any direction as that would be 'reacting to game elements without damaging them', or even rotate the rack.

If the base is firmly attached to the ground, and the judges spin it before every match, dont you think the center part, with the spiders and such, are are able to be turned seperate from the base up to a foot or so in either direction?

Its hard to tell off of any pictures or drawings that I could find, so if anyone has an images that would help please send me the link.

Thanks