Robot ideas

[DanDon]

Originally Posted by Jesterofkings

Our team had the same idea as some others on this post. we were considering making a forklift style capable of lifting ourselves and one other. do you think this idea is plausible? And another question. if our robot is a lifter style and our teammate is flipped do u think it is against the rules to flip our team bak over?

How exactly would you be lifting yourself? That would require the lift to be touching the ground which means that you wouldnt get points for your robot being suspended since the lift (which is part of the robot) is touching the ground.

Unless you can levitate.

[Jesterofkings]

yeah i just read it again and a friend told me. lol. thanx for pointing out though.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by dhoizner

How exactly would you be lifting yourself? That would require the lift to be touching the ground which means that you wouldnt get points for your robot being suspended since the lift (which is part of the robot) is touching the ground.

Unless you can levitate.

Easy, you just grab yourself by your collar, and.....

Originally Posted by arbershametaj

Defensive robots are no help. in the past years they mostly get in your way since they are so engaged with defense, now I am not saying that they are they are not helpful but its allot more efficient to build something average that score onto the low and middle legs since if you have been part of FIRST for at least three years you already have these robots build.

A as a last note lifting robots at the end of the match will probably be useless since most teams will no be able to lift or be lifted they will spend most of they time being in your way so it would be very hard to come back.
Pay more attention to the rule that says if you are on an opponent’s home zone at the end the opponent gets 10 point as a penalty, now wouldn’t it be easier to use a high pushing robot to push your opponents onto your home zone and get the 10 point bonus since FIRST really likes those bumpers and pushing has become a big part of the game.

Umm... I will respectfully disagree. Defense bots can prove vital. The game is all about territory control. A defense bot that can prevent a super row from being built is a huge help. This is easier than in years past because the rows will quite likely only be able to be completed in a few close spaces. Moreover, a defense bot can protect empty spider legs that your own alliance needs for super rows. Scoring bots can't do this, they have to be busy fetching ringers from various places. Defense bots do get in the way, but a good defense bot gets in the way of the opposing team. I will admit that an alliance full of defense bots will have some difficulties suceeding, but I think a good defense bot will be better than an average ringer. I mean... I've seen the difficulties average mechanisms can have threading needles like this. I'd rather an alliance mate hassle my opponents than spend a whole round painfully lining up 2 ringers.

Finally, you should pay more attention to the rule that you're not allowed to impede an opposing robot trying to leave you home zone. It's right there. I'm surprised you think FIRST would let teams FORCE other teams into recieving penalties. The doesn't sound much in the spirit of the competition at all.

[+()c|D]

Originally Posted by Jesterofkings

Our team had the same idea as some others on this post. we were considering making a forklift style capable of lifting ourselves and one other. do you think this idea is plausible? And another question. if our robot is a lifter style and our teammate is flipped do u think it is against the rules to flip our team bak over?

I think the forklift idea is a good one, I dont see how you could lift yourself without touching an element of the field. I also think that you would be able to lift up a robot on your team, the only rule that I know about fliping robots over talks about hitting an opposing robot or knocking it over.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by +()c|D

Which rule are we looking at???

<R12> says that your robot can expand to 72x72 outside of the home zone, and to an unlimited size inside the home zone.

[+()c|D]

Does anyone know if there is a rule about the possetion of opposite alliances game peices, or even try to cap them? I know there is a rule about trying to de-cap one of their peices, but is there one about obtaining them?

Thanks,
Todd

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by +()c|D

Does anyone know if there is a rule about the possetion of opposite alliances game peices, or even try to cap them? I know there is a rule about trying to de-cap one of their peices, but is there one about obtaining them?

Thanks,
Todd

You may possess their pieces. Scoring an opponent's piece is a 10 point penalty. I suspect the piece so scored will be ignored in the final tabulation of scores as well.

[+()c|D]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

You may possess their pieces. Scoring an opponent's piece is a 10 point penalty. I suspect the piece so scored will be ignored in the final tabulation of scores as well.

I just saw the first part <G21>, but what I didn't see was anything about the peice not being scored. Anyone see it in the book?

[T3_1565]

I think the big question for anyone oh might ocnsider lifting other robots is... Are most of the robots have a clearance to them? Most other years, the majority of robots only have at max a 1 inch clearance, which in my opionion makes it very hard for any lift mechanism to get under them. Let's hope that people will be kind for any lifting types lol.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by +()c|D

I just saw the first part <G21>, but what I didn't see was anything about the peice not being scored. Anyone see it in the book?

It isn't in the rule book.... yet. I have a strong feeling it will be. You can gain a huge advantage by scoring an opponent's piece properly that could easily offset a mere 10 point penalty. I can't see FIRST penalizing you but still allowing you to benefit and win a match based on the penalized action when it's easy to nullify the benefit of that action.

... Needless to say, if they don't follow my suggested course of action, you will see 57 and a lot of other smart teams taking these penalties when it is beneficial to do so.

[Bongle]

Just thought of another lifting idea:

One robot supplies a hard handle or hook some distance off the ground, and the lifted robot grapples onto it using a FIRST-frenzy style arm and then pulls ITSELF up. This would be adaptable to just about any partner so long as they had a hardpoint up top that they permitted you to use.

[aaeamdar]

Originally Posted by Malenddruid

My idea for the way to handle the tubes is to use a hydraulic arm...

I would assume that someone in the five pages of replies has posted this already, but:

Originally Posted by Section_8

R<46> Items specifically prohibited from use include: [...] Hydraulic fluids or hydraulic components.

So sorry to rain on your idea, but it looks like hydraulics are out.

[DjAlamose]

Originally Posted by aaeamdar

So sorry to rain on your idea, but it looks like hydraulics are out.

I think what they meant to say was pneumatics.

But back to the topic. I've been doing some research and some thinking and I have thought up of at least 7 different ways to build ramps so there isn't going to be a problem with finding a way to do it. Also these tubes weigh only ~1 lb. You wouldn't need much of an arm to manipulate them. Plus the suction cup system they give us seems to work nicely (from what I’ve heard on these forums). I really don’t see the issue in making a robot that can both be a ramp and place tubes. The only thing I see coming into play is deciding exactly how to get everything within the size restriction for your weight class. Obviously a shorter robot is nice for weight, but it becomes harder to get to the high tubes. This year I can't wait to see all of the different robots at competition because I do believe that we will all be surprised at how different they will all be.

Until then though, good luck teams!

[Zoheb N]

Originally Posted by dhoizner

How exactly would you be lifting yourself? That would require the lift to be touching the ground which means that you wouldnt get points for your robot being suspended since the lift (which is part of the robot) is touching the ground.

Unless you can levitate.

Easily especially if you are going to the LSR.. all you do is launch a hook up into the rafters and winch yourself up

[Barry Bonzack]

I'm thinking a possible hook, suctioncup, or corkscrew design for a manipulator to transport ringers. I can't seem to find pictures of other's designs like this although I am sure they are out there.

2005 team 16 and team 1543 used corkscrews
2004 team 16 did a very good suction cup design to more arount the 2x multiplier ball.