Propulsion that does not involve driving wheels

[R3V34L]

Originally Posted by EricH

I am not saying that adding weight is illegal. However, what I am saying is that using a fan or other method to effectively increase your weight beyond the 120# + battery + bumpers is. I have no problem with teams going right up to 120.0, even using a fan. But as soon as you use some of that weight to add extra weight on top of the 120.0, then I have a problem. I would assume that the others who said that would say the same thing.

Again, I have no problem with adding stuff up to the limit; I have a problem with using some of that to go beyond the limit.

Not meant to insult you or anything but, by that note, if I'm using a set of 2lb spinning wheels to propel my ball out of the 28'' x 38'' x 60'' box for our robot, then I'm using my weight to reach outside of my robot boundaries. Yet I would think that this is not illegal. If you are using mechanical means, and they fit within the scope of the rules, I would say let the team use them.

My team, (948) is currently dabbling in the possibilities of a fan helping to pull our robot down. As a rough estimate, we know that the base of our robot can be ~1000 in^2. If we can generate even .5 psi difference, that's an additional 500 pounds to "add" to our normal force. If we can get that is another question however, and one we are trying to answer. To help increase the potential of a fan's use, we thought that adding a skirt along the inside of the bumper that comes within a quarter inch of the ground could help to contain our "pseudo-vacuum".