pic: 1065 Flipped

[Rick TYler]

I see a lot of top-heavy bots in these pics from UTC and Florida. The 4wd bots seem especially top-heavy. By comparison, the top of our 6WD frame is 2-1/2 inches below the top of our 9-inch wheels. Nothing on our base chassis (except the RC and the very top of the battery) is above the top of the frame rails. Our transmissions are mounted even with the bottom of the frame rails, as is the bottom of the battery box. The electrical board is just above the bottom of the frame rail. Our very lightweight shooting tower and lifter are the only other parts above the top of the frames. At the Bellevue practice event, we went up and down the ramp frontwards and backwards, at angles and straight-on. According to SolidWorks, our CG without the game tower is within a vertical inch of our drive axles.

If your 'bot has a high CG, you are going to be hurting on the ramp. We went for an ultra-low CG to improve ramp-climbing and to add to our defensive abilities. We think not tipping is a good feature when you are playing defense.