Flag at Competitions

[EricLeifermann]

For all those teams who plan on lifting the robots with ramps. I was wondering where you planned on putting the flag holder, so as it will not get in the way of robots climbing your robot? We have an idea but do not know if it will be allowed. Thanks for you input.

[Katie Reynolds]

As far as the legality of flag placement, I think the rules are pretty clear:

FLAG – A colored (red or blue) bicycle flag used to display ALLIANCE assignments during a match. The flag itself is made of a triangular piece of colored plastic or fabric, measuring approximately 9 inches tall by 11
inches long. The flag is mounted at the end of a 1/4 inch diameter fiberglass flagpole, approximately 36 inches long.

<R15> ROBOTS must use one of the two FLAGS provided at the event queuing location to display their ALLIANCE color (red or blue). The FLAG must be held in a flag holder mounted on the ROBOT. The only acceptable flag holder is a 12 inch long piece of 1/2” ID Schedule 40 PVC tube. The tube must be a single, contiguous piece, must be capped with a commercial PVC pipe cap cemented at one end. The tube can not have any “lightening holes” or other modifications other than mounting holes (paint or other decorative surface finishes are permitted). The flag holder must be permanently mounted to the ROBOT such that when the ROBOT is in any PLAYING CONFIGURATION and the FLAG is in the flag holder, the FLAG is approximately vertical and the top of the FLAG is a minimum of 18 inches higher than any point on the central mass or structure of the ROBOT (note: ROBOT arms, appendages, and extensions may temporarily intrude into the space above the top of the ROBOT and exceed this height of the FLAG – this a normal part of game play, and will not be considered a violation of this rule). The intent of this rule is to insure that the FLAG must be easily seen from any side during the entire match play.

[AdamHeard]

If you wanted something narrow with some flexibility in case a robot hit it, mounting it to a piece of pvc would work if no tower/arm was present. This would be pretty rigid, but allow some deformation if a robot hit it. I would mount it on the back or front of the robot near the center on the edge so it would be unlikely to get hit.

[Bongle]

At least one of the ramps posted in the pictures section is bent such that a robot climbing it doesn't actually end up on top of the lifting robot. The lifted robot finishes the match above and beside the lifting robot.

Here is the picture I am talking about: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/26538