Robots that float

[The Revolver]

amen...

[boy_scout72688]

the thing is the robot doesn't need to float the whole time. It could only float at the end when it needs to if its possible.

[65_Xero_Huskie]

Originally Posted by boy_scout72688

the thing is the robot doesn't need to float the whole time. It could only float at the end when it needs to if its possible.

Your robot cuts off at the end of the match. This would be impossibel to keep it off the ground without any power..( well...if you could use your mind to keep it up i guess you could use brain power )

[boy_scout72688]

Originally Posted by 65_Xero_Huskie

Your robot cuts off at the end of the match. This would be impossibel to keep it off the ground without any power..( well...if you could use your mind to keep it up i guess you could use brain power )

That is why brain power is wonderful!

[Alekat]

Originally Posted by JamesBrown

2 problems I see with this are that

1 there is alot of contact on a first field, the odds of the skirt getting torn of folded up so it forms a poor seal with the floor are pretty high.

Also a hover bot would just be pushed around the field, it would be like an air hockey puck.

For any one who was looking at this strategy to score points at the end of the match, keep in mind that power is shut off and the robot wont be able to keep hovering.

Originally Posted by Setsanto

Practically speaking, I don't think a hovercraft is feasible.

These are the same people that say having a monkey for a pet is a bad idea.
I think in the future, both ideas will have their place in the world of FIRST.

[Ken Leung]

Just to mix it up a little bit.

Can you potentially build a robot so small, so light, with just the basic components that it weights about 10-20 lbs, and it attach itself to another robot such that it remain off the ground for the entire match?

Think super small version of the 2004 Bionic Poof robot. Small arm that latch onto another robot and winch itself up.

Yeah....

[bobmonkey836]

it would be surprising to see a hover-bot, but i don't see it getting past regionals. it would be easy to push around, and/or acually accidentally tipped over. and for whoever said lines to the ceiling, if that's not actually in the rules, if your rope got caught up there, there isn't going to be a great way to get it down. so you may get penalized.

[Steph]

As an add-on/side note to this idea, last year 1006 made a hovercraft for our robot cart. For that purpose the concept works wonderfully (Apart from when the battery on the leaf blower dies half way to the field...). It was quite simple to make, didn't cost much, and made a great conversation piece at regionals. Hovercrafts are awesome.

The force needed to lift a robot should be simple to calculate, so I figure I'll try it out. Someone correct me if I make a mistake. We're going to start with a 120 pound robot. Now, assuming you choose to leave a bit of extra space, we'll go with a 26x36 robot base. the area is 936 square inches. So assuming you can have a fan put out a constant pressure output of 2 psi (shouldn't be too hard to do with CIM's...), and also assuming you can cover the entire base with the same pressure, my math tells me the hovercraft would be able to hold 1872 pounds. I may be way off here, but at least I'm trying. Lets assume that only 50% of the bottom will be lifted. This could happen by spreading out two lifting fan setups. The simple 2 psi system would be able to lift 936 pounds before going back down to the ground. Assuming that you are never pushed, this could actually be a viable system to drive a robot. You would be very manueverable, if you were careful and scientific in your maneuvering fan setup... Or you could steer it with another method, like a crab module or two in the center.

Again, please correct me if the math is off....

[Sgraff_SRHS06]

Do the rules say anything about using innertubes like Ringers as part of a hovercraft skirt?

It's a curiosity question.

I'm one of those people who believe you can get a lot of juice out of those batteries to lift a 110-lb robot. I'm not worried about 20-30V doing the job. I'm worried about the current. Whether the 110-lb robot can be lifted 4" of the ground? That's an interesting dilemma I hope at least one team pushes that boundary. I would much rather see a 130-lb robot as a hovercraft myself.

Steering may not be such a problem, but it is controlling the steering so you don't oversteer or miss the rack. But if it can be done, a hovercraft robot will be absolutely "broken." By "broken" I mean that it will do so well in the game that few teams will have answers for it: Fast, too able to get past defenders, and ability to score on the move.

[yoshi1319]

....Good luck with that. Sounds like it would take waaaay too many batteries for that, and you would eat up all of the weight restrictions on that alone.

[Scion13]

If the robot doesn't touch the ground at any point, there wouldn't be any frictional force opposing a contact force from another robot. So the hovercraft should be extremely easy to push around.

[Assassin Shadow]

Originally Posted by 65_Xero_Huskie

Im still thinking that you can throw a zipline into the rafters and hang from the celing

Brilliance...sheer brilliance...

[Cuog]

A hovercraft bot could be made for first, my concern would be just how high it would hover. I would expect its hover height t be less than 2 inches.

And i will buy a box of donuts for whatever team successfully creates a hoverbot and lets me drive it around a bit.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Cuog

And i will buy a box of donuts for whatever team successfully creates a hoverbot and lets me drive it around a bit.

I'll throw in 2 more boxes of donuts to see that!