Robot Size and Shape: What's Best?

[SSMike]

What size robot is better suited for this year’s game, Rack and Roll? Would a four foot, 120 lb robot be better than a 6 foot 100 lb one? Or would a 5 foot 110 lb. robot be the best? Personally I think that a four foot 120 lb. robot would be the best only if it can score on the rack. Let me know what your ideas are on the robot dimensions, shape, and build are.

Hope everyone’s robot is coming along nicely.

[akshar]

small bot. 120 lbs, with an offensive arm. good for playing defense, wont be easily pushable (unless of course, the other team has a superior drive train and is 120lbs as well), and having an arm helps as well.

[silicon_ghoti]

Come-on, are we the only team going for five feet? It seems to be an economic trade-off. But that's just me, I'd like to hear/see why you'd pick what you'd pick. By the way there's a special reason why we are going for the 5ft mark and not worrying.

[Alex Cormier]

search the threads.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by silicon_ghoti

Come-on, are we the only team going for five feet? It seems to be an economic trade-off. But that's just me, I'd like to hear/see why you'd pick what you'd pick. By the way there's a special reason why we are going for the 5ft mark and not worrying.

I would agree with you. if your going to score on the top ringer, you would have an easier time designing something reaching 92 inches.
That's what we are shooting for.

[Jared Russell]

It takes less than 10 lbs to raise an arm by a foot.

[Alex.Norton]

I really like the idea of designing for the 5ft mark cause it forces me to think lighter, and then if we are over wieght we can simply chop a foot off our lift.

simple, easy, worth 10 pounds of parts

Even though in past years we haven't had wiehgt troubles, I've been designing this years bot with several areas that will make it a better performer but aren't critical. Its been a fun little challenge.

[Dan Petrovic]

We picked the 120 lb weight class because we wanted to have the weight there. I don't think we've not had a problem with weight.

Also, I don't see many pros for having a taller, lighter robot. Sure it's easier to reach the top ring, but it's not like it's hard with a 4' robot. Weight is a much more difficult constraint than height.

[masterkoppa]

The class two configuration (110 lbs. max and 5ft. high) is a good configuration for ramp bots because their ramp can be made longer, thus creating a lesser angle for the robots to climb. Thats why we picked this configuration.

[sdcantrell56]

I really don't see it being any more difficult to build an arm for the 4 foot robot to reach for the top than say a 5 footer, and the added defensive capabilities and presumably more robust design just did not seem like something to give up. Just my 2 cents

[jacob07]

Were going with the 5 ft tall robot. Its easy simple and can reach the top no problem.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

I really don't see it being any more difficult to build an arm for the 4 foot robot to reach for the top than say a 5 footer, and the added defensive capabilities and presumably more robust design just did not seem like something to give up. Just my 2 cents

This sounds like a very familiar discussion....we have tenatively decided to let the robot decide what works best, 4 or 5 foot. Hopefully, testing will show us which way to go.

[GMKlenklen]

because I think this game will ultimately be a contest of "who can put ringers up the fastest" 2167 decided that in order to reduce moment of inertia, less mass will be used. We will probably wheigh in under 100 lbs, unless our ramp/pltform idea actually makes it to the 'bot.

[sheltie234]

I agree that the best option is probably the smaller. With our team, weight always seems to be an issue, so if you can gain the extra 10 or 20 pounds by making your robot a little bit shorter, it seems like an excellent option to me!

[Matthew.Kurek]

Just from a rookie's perspective, a low body, high weight design seems best. it's how we built our robot, and we put a forklift on front. our body is only a foot and a half tall. the height comes from the forklift. using a smaller body with a higher weight is in my opinion better because you can have a stronger chassis, lower center of gravity and more powerful equipment.