Robot Cart Suggestions

[Alex Minot]

Hey i'm from a rookie team (1676) and I would just like to know what other teams use for a cart at competitions and if the have any suggestions?

We have a wooden cart with casters. Nothing special.

Sometimes its handy to have extra parts on the cart like batteries.

[Billfred]

Last year, 1293 hauled the robot the hard way on Thursday, then switched to a little red wagon for Friday and Saturday.

This year, we're planning on building a cart with some storage and additional cool factor.

[Kyle]

MOE likes to have a cart that is made of wood or extra bosh tubing if possible. and also made to hold the robot a little off the ground so we can work on it in the pits. 4 wheel casters are a good idea and try to get wheels that can lock,we have found that to be very helpfull. Also leave room on the cart to hold batteries the control board, extra tools, water for the drivers and what ever else your team might need.

[team222badbrad]

A hovercraft.

I have dreamed of a hover cart for years simply because I get fed up with all the cables on the ground.

Actually this is a bad idea though because imagine the dust and metal chips that would fly once the hover cart is turned on

Actually just build a cart that is simple. Plywood, metal, or extruded aluminum.

Just keep in mind to keep the wheels big in diameter as there is power cables all over the pits and arena areas.

Small wheels = lifting robot and cart over many cables many times...
Trust me, I found out the hard way.

[tiffany34990]

S.P.A.M. uses a wooden cart and well we have the handle removeable so it's easy to take the robot off in all directions. And it's easier to store when going to competition. We used to use caster but now tires filled by air. I know some teams make really cool carts and with music playing. We just keep it simple and well down time it's a great place to sit on.

[Evan Austin]

Last year we had a two-wheel drive robot that rolled very easily. We also had a cart that rolled like it had square wheels. We got tired of it and finally just rolled the robot from the pit to the field with no cart at all. We loved it because we didn't have a cart to move out of the way or try to maneuver through the pits in Chicago. We did use our cart in Atlanta, though, because we didn't want to roll the robot that far.

[Bcahn836]

I am currently building a motorized robot cart for my team. It uses 2 electric wheel chair motors and the electronics from our 2002 robot. It uses the 2002 robot and operator interface teathered of course. The cart also doubles as a shipping crate to ship all of our tools and spare parts. And is made of wood.
Some things to remember:
1. Not too big space in the pits is limited
2. Must be able to fit through a doorway
3. Make sure it can go long distances, if you go to Atlanta this would come in handy
4. There will be speed bumps, so make sure you can clear them.
I think thats just about it.

Oh and on the cart we have also confiscated the 2002 revolving light that will set on top of the cart and also we are trying to get some blue neon tubes to put in the electronics area. The cart itself is pretty much done all that is left is to paint it and make the skids for shipping, I hope to have it done the same time as the robot which looks like it will happen.

[Brandon Holley]

Last year our team unveiled our uber-cart. It had an extruded aluminum t-slot frame (very simple to put together), with four drawers for parts, etc. We also installed a head unit and speakers to keep us pumped up. We had extruded risers to lift a lexan platform another foot off that part of the cart. This is where the robot was layed. We easily had body level access to the robot. The blue ground effects were also a sweet addition.

BUT, you guys may not have access to that kind of stuff (it took us 9 years to finally get a good one built)...But yea, any kind of wooden/aluminum frame with 2 casters, and 2 mounted wheels (one year we had 4 casters, and BOY that was fun)...anything that can support a robot, and has wheels, is probably good enough.

[pakrat]

Originally Posted by MORT~11

Last year... The blue ground effects were also a sweet addition.

I guess we kinda missed that memo, and put the blue underlights on our robot instead...

For out cart, we just had an off the shelf cartwith 4 wheels, 2 of which were casters. The only thing on our cart that was really out of the ordinary was the spinning light on it (form 2003 and before when we had lights wiht those covers) and we had the robot sitting on this peice of plywood that was signed by a bbunch of the good folks at AVL (our main sponsor) and it made us feel awesome each time we saw all their signatures and support, even when we were in atlanta.
Pretty much anything can work, depends on how much you want to spend...

[rocknthehawk]

our old cart is just made of wood...rolls around on castors, has a handle to pull it. it had four drawers and then the whole bottom opened up so we could keep batteries, vise, bench grinder, etc underneath. it was nice to put the robot on when we werent using it.

this year i've been commisioned to build the new cart and the new cart to get the bot from matches... the new cart will be made out of 2" extruded almumium with shaded lexan sides and some blacklights...should be pretty cool. the new pick up cart...well maybe you'll all just have to see it at atlanta... here's a teaser...hehehe custom stretched frame by me...soon the tank will be done and then the trailer...the paint should be wild...either white with a blue metalflake in it or a pearlescent/ candy blue with ghost flames... watch out for me

http://photobucket.com/albums/v199/r...t=016dd2d9.jpg

[Holtzman]

For 1114's rookie year, we used a plywood board with casters. Simple and effective.

Last year, as an off season project, we took a "garden cart" available at any number of stores(Walmart, Tuvalu, etc), and rebuild the rear Axel to incorporate a single drill motor with transmission and a set of variable diameter pulleys from www.hi-lo.com . This gave us a very simple CVT transmission without any complex machining. (see attached photo) 494 built a set of variable diameter pulleys from scratch. They looked really slick.

Aside from that, a couple things you should note when constructing your cart.

-You should have storage for several batteries.
-Possibly a charger on-board. (especially at championship when you the pits are too far to go)
-Wheels should be large enough to roll over the covers the put over the audio/video cables at the venue.
-basic tools to perform minor repairs. (screwdrivers, Allen keys, zip ties, pliers)
- make sure to make it look really cool, it makes it easier for teams to remember you, which comes in handy for alliance selections

[ConKbot of Doom]

Well we decided to not go with the kit-bot frame this year, so that may end up as the frame for out cart. Nothing to fancy, but it will sure beat what we had last year, nothing.

[Stormhammer]

easy - take a wooden pallet say from home depot? put casters on it - from there build a platform about 4 feet atop of it - we did that - and it held one of those field carpets!!! with 4 of us sitting on it!!!

[Tamster548]

Our cart has speakers, amps, subs, an LCD screen, DVD player, keypad ignition/turn-on circuitry, keyfob controlled electronics, neon accessories, a "cabinet" space for tools and batteries, storage space for parts trays, and pneumatic lift to create an elevated workspace.