Lost Trailers

[s_forbes]

This doesn't sound like something that should be happening at all, and I was surprised to hear that it's such a common problem. Does anyone have a picture of the pinning system used in competition?

[NorviewsVeteran]

Originally Posted by aksimhal

I don't recall trailers being un hitched at DC; though again, the field crew was amazing and helpful there (though I'm sure all the field crews are awesome)

Though our hitch nearly fell off the robot...

[GBIT]

Originally Posted by Cory

Are volunteers/refs/the FTA checking the pin prior to the match starting? Maybe they should be, and that would eliminate the problem. If they were to check, and ok it and the trailer subsequently fell off, then it's a field problem, not a team problem

Yes at GSR they checked every robot at least once...

[Cory]

Originally Posted by s_forbes

This doesn't sound like something that should be happening at all, and I was surprised to hear that it's such a common problem. Does anyone have a picture of the pinning system used in competition?

This is a competition trailer, with the same pin they use at competition.

[Kimmeh]

Originally Posted by Brdn666

We lost it once because of our fault. It's not that bad.

We didn't receive a DQ for it because no one was completely sure who's fault it was. Our mentor who attached it was willing to take full blame for it.

Either way, whether it's your fault or not, it's still disappointing and very frustrating.

[gorrilla]

oh...so their not ball hitch pins like this http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...SDG-193410.jpg

[Cory]

Originally Posted by gorrilla

oh...so their not ball hitch pins like this http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...SDG-193410.jpg

Nope.

[IKE]

It may be worthwhile to bring a couple packs of these;

http://www.mcmaster.com/#92401a643/=tg77b

The actual hitch pins like this have a built in handle and a chain to keep the keeper attached.

We had pins with keepers like what we are supposed to use this year, and they would often become unsprung and then bounce out.

Anecdote. I was once hauling a manuer spreader back to our farm with one of these pins. I hit a bump, it can loose and the trailer passed me going down the hill. Not good.

[gorrilla]

Originally Posted by IKE

It may be worthwhile to bring a couple packs of these;

http://www.mcmaster.com/#92401a643/=tg77b

The actual hitch pins like this have a built in handle and a chain to keep the keeper attached.

We had pins with keepers like what we are supposed to use this year, and they would often become unsprung and then bounce out.

Anecdote. I was once hauling a manuer spreader back to our farm with one of these pins. I hit a bump, it can loose and the trailer passed me going down the hill. Not good.

On a side note:Ive had(painful) experience with the cotter pins in these breaking on my sailboat,I had two of these holding my sail-traveler-car onto the mail-sail blocks, the pin snapped and the blocks flew up, and the boom came accross and hit me square in the faceand broke the piece where the boom connects to the mast($80)


there plenty strong for the trailers though....

[GBIT]

Team 811 took some pretty huge hits at GSR and our pin never came out... They seemed like a very secure hold to me...

[metaltech]

Our 'bot lost its trailer after a hard hit from another. Worse, an alliance mate drove away from the trailer as soon as autonomous started. The killer: this was in the same match.

The other team probably had the pin miss the trailer tongue completely, the only scenario that seems likely. Our pin was installed by a pretty sharp young man, our programmer. It was also the first time he had done it (all the kids were having a try at different responsibilities, as we were so far down in the rankings). Here's what's weird: he said the pin was still in the hitch through both upper and lower holes. He said he had put the clip around the pin. I didn't see it myself, so can't verify or deny. It seems unlikely, but at the same time, I don't see how the trailer could have made it partially through the match if it hadn't been connected to begin with.

I don't know if a team can supply their own pin to be sure it's good. Pin installations weren't being checked by staff, as far as I can tell. (Two trailers off in the same match? No double-checking there.) But, I would strongly recommend you do what you can to prevent separation. This is a terrible way to kill a match. The trailer sits there like a dead duck, getting dumped on. This kind of thing should simply not happen.

mt

[DUCKIE]

I was workng as an official scorer and being "tied" to the field by the real-time scoring device, I was almost always watching/verifying teams connected properly to the trailer infront of me, and there never seemed to be any problem with the pins.

The only lost trailer I remember from this past weekend in D.C. was one where the pin did not fail or come loose at all.... it was the team's mounting bracket that disconnected from their robot.