Effective Drive Base

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

<R07>
A. BUMPERS must provide complete protection of the entire FRAME PERIMETER of the ROBOT (i.e. BUMPERS must wrap entirely around the ROBOT). The BUMPERS must be located entirely within the BUMPER ZONE when the ROBOT is standing normally on a flat floor, and must remain there (i.e. the BUMPERS must not be articulated or designed to move outside of the BUMPER ZONE).

If one uses 6 inch wheels, then the drive assembly would need to be a good distance behind the frame perimeter for any bumper to interfere with climbing. (The top of the bump is 12 inches high but also 12 inches set back from the base) This does not appear to rule out any type of drive system that would take into account the shape and height of the bump. As to whether a crab drive would succeed on the bump over a different drive system is up to the team to prototype and then make a decision. As is discussed in several other places, high center of gravity seems to be the more important issue if choosing to climb the bump. Considering all of the factors summed together, it appears to be a considerable challenge to design a robot that both climbs over the bump or drives through the tunnel.

Heres my problem with the rule...when your robot negotiates the bumps, or hangs from the bar, your bumpers will no longer be in the bumper zone. Thus aren't you violating R07?