pic: New low bar flaps

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by Mr V

I also insisted that the robot be designed to clear the low bar if for some reason it was 1/2" lower than the dimensions on the official field drawings. So for us I don't see it as an issue but we will find out tomorrow.

For the record our robot was designed with the knowledge that the official fabric was not highly robust. So we tried to minimize any potential damage to the fabric so that we weren't at risk for a penalty for damaging or repeatedly damaging the field.

It's nice that you don't have anything to worry about. We designed our robot with many of these things in mind, but under the assumption that there would be that nice solid bar there. We have these dorsal fins that work perfectly well with the normal low bar, but now we have to worry about them dragging excessively on the vinyl, or worse, slipping into one of those slits that are now there. So it's entirely possible to have a reasonably designed robot that's going to have issues with this significantly different obstacle.

[Roger]

After two weekends using them on my fields (WPI and UMass Dartmouth) I can say the plastic flaps held up nicely with no rips and only minor scars along the top. Very few zipties popped. Every few matches in my rounds I'd adjust them back to spec -- "evenly spaced" which ends up around a one inch gap between them. There are two holes for two zip ties either side to keep them on, and a ziptie each flap side around the bar to keep them from sliding too much.

There have been a couple of boulders that managed to roll up to the flap and push the flap a little under the bar, but none (that I saw; I can't be everywhere ya know!) ever got thru. If your robot drives thru fast enough one or more flaps swing up and over, or just roll up, which I guess is where the scars on the top come from.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Yeah, honestly I can't remember hearing about any problems regarding the field at our week 2 event, or anything since. I think the fixes to the low bar and Cheval de Frise are holding up. Not bad! Hope they last another 4 weeks of competitions.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

<snip>
So it's entirely possible to have a reasonably designed robot that's going to have issues with this significantly different obstacle.

Actually, I am really surprised at the muted response from the Fairness Cult on this point. No matter how you played this your team was impacted by this change. Many teams that designed stuff into their robot that other's didn't have a claim to this being an advantage that the GDC took away from them. Many teams that had perfectly reasonable solutions for the original design have had fits with the new one.

I don't think it is a HUGE deal but I really was expecting a hue and cry from the Fairness Cult corner of the FIRST community.

Am I just getting deaf in my dotage or had the FIRST community matured a little (realizing that FIRST was clearly in the wrong but that they had to do something as not acting was getting more and more impossible as the season progressed)?

Dr. Joe J.

[Roborunner230]

There were times at UMASS Dartmouth this weekend where there were several balls stuck in these flaps, forcing teams to go around the low bar. They would have to go from the courtyard to the neutral zone before attempting to damage the defense so they could knock these boulders out of the way without being penalized. It was a bit of a hassle to say the least.