Over the bump or under the tower

[Daniel_LaFleur]

I can see being able to retrieve a ball that is in the tunnel as important.

The Kickoff showed how easily a ball can (and will) roll under there.

[yodameister]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

I can see being able to retrieve a ball that is in the tunnel as important.

The Kickoff showed how easily a ball can (and will) roll under there.

That was my thought as well

[Taylor]

Do a cost/benefit analysis of going over the bump vs. going under the tower. Having a clear and objective reason to pursue one or the other, balanced with your team's resources and abilities, will help your team decide on a system that matches your overall design.
Having said that, and having done that with our team, we're bumping, and according to the poll it looks like most others are as well.
However, don't base your decisions on what is most popular. As JVN said (paraphrased), the cool factor doesn't win competitions.

[KrakatoaCoo]

i'd use over bump as most teams would block the tunnels but having both on your robot gives an advantage

[Chris is me]

I think if your strategy revolves around crossing the zones, strictly going under the tower won't cut it. That's too easy to defend.

[JesseK]

Over the bumps. Conquer them like they're flat!

[wilsonmw04]

The best answer is both. I don't see the tower and the bumps as being mutually exclusive.

[Liu_yiang]

While going through the tunnel may be faster, it is prone to blocking and any attempt at hanging is very very hard. Not to mention tunnels put even more size restrictions than the restrictions themselves.

[TheWhiteReaper]

My team is deciding that we don't WANT to go over bumps but if we HAVE to (in the event of an allied robot being disabled) you should BE ABLE TO. Our drive train will allow us to go over but we will ONLY if we have to.

[jgannon]

For those designing to go under the tunnel, how are you dealing with the consequent visibility issues?

Originally Posted by czeke

you yourself could be trapped inside by opposition robots at both entrances

Is that actually a bad thing? If your opponents use two robots to shut down one, the rest of your alliance has a whole lot of field to work with.

[quinxorin]

Thank you. Our team has decided that "Over the hills" is a much better way to reach Grandmother's house than to go "through the woods."

I hope that this thread helps other teams make thier decisions as well. A bit of information: based on our calculations assuming 6" wheels spread pretty much the farthest they could be, the CoG, if in the center, can be up to 36" high.

p.s. We also decided to go with a mecanum drive, just in case you were interested.

[Nemo]

Originally Posted by TheWhiteReaper

My team is deciding that we don't WANT to go over bumps but if we HAVE to (in the event of an allied robot being disabled) you should BE ABLE TO. Our drive train will allow us to go over but we will ONLY if we have to.

Our team came to a similar conclusion. Also, if you plan to hang at the end, and you start in the zone not adjacent to the tower, you will have to cross a bump before hanging.

[Krisple]

We came up with a little list at 1712, which is by no means complete, but i thought would be nice to share.

over
pro
quick
can't be blocked
con
robot gets damaged
risk of flipping if center of gravity isn't low
can't control ball over

under
pro
can control balls well
low risk of damage
con
takes a while to line up to go under
can easily be blocked
risk of balls falling on you and getting stuck
restricts robot size

We decided to go with over as the initial strategy, but in order to get a low center of gravity we ended up building a chassis that could also fit under if we needed to. Kinda funny how things work out sometimes.

I thought both was the best strategy, but would pick over if I had to pick just one.

[Alexis Howell]

I'd say neither as well. I mean, why would you really need to traverse? Two robots aren't allowed in the opposing area and it seems that you'd probably need a robot manning all sections...

Traversing would probably only be necessary in a worst case scenario...

[killerofkiller]

reminds me of the 2003 Stack Attack debate."Over the Ramp,or under the bar?"