pic: Whoops

[1359th Scalawag]

Pretty funny pic there. I'd be so dissapointed if I was on that alliance when that happened though.

My team's robot has a ramp built into the chassis. It's kind of like a rectangle made of two trianges so we hinged a corner and it unfolds to be a ramp.
*i'll see if I can draw it with text*

______________
|..--..............|
|.......--.........|
|............--....|
|................--| <-------Hinge goes there
|...................|
|...................|
|..O wheels O..|

Anyway, using the arm to push it up, we can deploy it and then using two little lifter leg things, we can raise it to a horizontal position 14 inches above the playing feild.
At first, it was too narrow for other robots to climb, so we added a bungee system so that the bottom two plates would flair outwards a little when it opened and give the robots more room to drive.

Wish I had a picture, I guess i'll be posting one as soon as we get the robot back. Hope you understood at least a bit of that!

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Raul

Or maybe practice.

And given the noted increase in teams struggling to complete inspections on Thursday, how many teams do you think get enough time to execute that practice? It's a good suggestion, but how many get a chance to effectively prepare before their first event?

Especially early on in the season, I start out assuming no one knows how to drive on flat ground, let alone up a ramp. That doesn't even factor in the actual ability of the robot to drive straight in the first place. Adding extra insurance to guard against robots "falling off the cliff" only helps give confidence to the inexperienced and increase the chances of success. I'd rather have a robot get caught on the rails than falling off the edge and damaging themselves (or falling into a critical area of our robot and damaging us).

[sieggy]

The reason why our ramps do not have guardrails was a weight issue; we were heavily considering putting them in. However, they're 4 feet wide, so we figured it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Also, they're made of fiberglass with a honeycomb aluminum core, not plywood

It was just terrible luck. But very funny in retrospect.

[Jimmy Cao]

I was in the stands watching when that happened... it was interesting to say the least. I hope none of the robots were significantly damaged...

[K.Porter]

Originally Posted by GBIT

At GSR team think pink didnt have guard rails (i think) but they had really wide ramps that worked great (nice job guys)

We actually did have some small guard rails, but they still left a lot to driver skill.
Props to all the drivers that made it up any ramps this year! Threading a needle with a robot is a difficult task, no matter what ramp you're climbing!

i was at that regional, but i was stuck watching the pits, and no one ever told me that that had happened, and this is the first i've heard of it.

[meatmanek]

The perfect ramps, in my opinion, would have guard rails as tall as the bumper zone, would be able to accompany a 37" wide robot, wouldn't rip up IFI traction wheels...
The alignment problem could be nicely solved by flared guard rails.

I'd be impressed if a team managed to make 2 ramps that satisfy those conditions, still be effective defensively, and still make weight.
I'd be amazed if a team could make ramps that satisfy those conditions and be able to score on all 3 levels.
You'd win if your robot had ramps that satisfy those conditions and you could score on all 3 levels effectively.

[Steve Kaneb]

Team 190 used guard rails throughout GSR and we've mostly found that they do little to affect robots getting up ramps. Simply put, you're getting up there or you aren't based on driving ability and robot capability. Everything else is decorative.

[cire]

Originally Posted by Bill_Hancoc

im pretty sure 503 does have small guard rails but when your in a hurry and dont go on the ramp in the center guard rails cant help you

They did not have any gaurd rails and the ramp was about 4-5 inchs larger then our wheel base

Originally Posted by mizscience

WOW, was there any particular reason, or was it just bad luck that they both fell off the same time?

We had about 10 seconds left when the ramp was dropped, so we both just zoomed as fast as we could up it.

I personaly thought it was a little funny, and this picture will always bring back great memories And very frantic memories of checking the arm to see if it still worked afterwards..

[sieggy]

There are no guardrails on our ramps.

Also, if you're in the hole in the middle, then you are already off one of the sides, so the holes aren't really a problem. The hole is 12 inches wide and the strips on each side are 12 inches, so it would only be a problem if a robot had wheels really close together or a middle wheel.

[Pickwick II]

Originally Posted by Lostmage333

I was in the stands watching when that happened... it was interesting to say the least. I hope none of the robots were significantly damaged...

Team 1015 had *no* resultant damage. We were thanking our lucky stars...
That was a less-than-fun moment, though the picture is funny now.