Robot Crate

[ChrisMcK2186]

My team is currently picking over designs for not only the robot but the crate as well. We came up with several ideas, all of which include using the doors as some sort of shelving.

One of the concerns here is the weight on the hinges, so we were thinking about putting wheels on the corners of the doors to support the extra weight.

Is this allowed or would this count as being "unsafe" for stacking.

Thanks,
Chris McKenzie
2186

[Bob Steele]

Hi Chris!!

I have used a crate similar to what you are talking about for about 5 years.

Our crate "door" swings out and serves as an additional area of shelves.
The whole crate is 4 X 4... the swing out portion is 1 X 4 and the rest of the crate is 3 X 3. This gives you plenty of room to store a normal robot in the larger portion.

I don't think you want to put your crate on wheels for several reasons... the main one being that the rules require the crate to have two 4X4 pieces of lumber on the bottom so that it can be moved with a standard forklift.

We simply attached our 4X4 independently to the two pieces ... (the door has 1 foot pieces of 4X4 and the larger portion of the crate has 3 foot pieces of 4X4)

We have a series of locks along the seam (edge of the door) and the door is hinged with door hinges (standard)

When we uncrate, we unlock it... and then open it up... it doesn't open super easily but it is perfectly adequate sliding along the floor. The bonus is that is stays open very well and we now have places for our tools and chargers. We even put peg board on the "door" side. The area behind the "door" section which is about 2X4 ' is a great place to store containers and team coats and things not needed right away. It is our closet

We wired the box and it has its own outlets inside and simply has to connect to the plug provided for the pit with an extension cord.

We are modifying it this year and it will be even neater... this is a good project for younger members of the team...

I have attached a picture of it...

If you have any questions... please just ask...

[Pelicano234]

Last year, our crate cae apart for our pit, and it failed miserably. This year, we're just making a crate

[MDodge27]

I'm on Pelicano234's team and our mentor suggested we have it serve multiple purposes. it turned out bad. we had a pink interior to our pit. it was good looking and totally professional. jk.

[ChrisMcK2186]

Bob,
that is an awesome looking crate. Is there any chance you can post a CAD file possibly? That actually looks like what we are trying to go for.

Our current thoughts lean towards 2 doors that open away from each other, but yours looks very nice and slightly sturdier than the ones we had planned.

Thanks,
Chris McKenzie
2186

[lynca]

We had good results following the Crate 2.0 Whitepaper

[MasterMkanik]

Last year I designed and built a crate for our team. It opens up like a clam shell, right down the middle, one one side it has a built in shelf that is strong enough to support our vice and below that shelf is another for our toolbox. on the other side there is a fold down table supported by chain for the programming team. Both side doors open as well.