What is the most ghetto thing you've seen on a robot?

[bobbysq]

Originally Posted by Doomwyte

For Recycle Rush

Originally Posted by Doomwyte

defending robot

but why

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Doomwyte

For Recycle Rush, a team (I think it was 1510) decided that they needed to turn their bot into a defending robot for one match. Their solution: tape three totes on top of the robot. It was pretty funny to watch.

Originally Posted by bobbysq

but why

Litter blocker?

[ThariqRidha]

Originally Posted by Doomwyte

For Recycle Rush, a team (I think it was 1510) decided that they needed to turn their bot into a defending robot for one match. Their solution: tape three totes on top of the robot. It was pretty funny to watch.

I don't recall 1510 ever doing that for Recycle Rush, but we definetely did something very similar and sketchy during Stronghold.

[Dibit1010]

For our flywheels this year we hacksawed, drill pressed, and lathed down a bolt so that it would fit onto a motor shaft

[RadonH0926]

Since I've been on Cyber Blue, the most "ghetto" solution we had was in 2013 when we replaced a floor pickup system with a blue bucket for taking frisbees from from the HP station.

[caltemus]

In 2010 we had a ramp assembly that required the addition of a duct tape roll core; being used to prevent the robot from smashing itself and losing comm every time the ramp was closed.

[BetaHelix]

In 2014 we used a drill and a hex bearing(still attached to the chassis) as a lathe

In 2015 we needed HDPE spacers and wheels for our lift so we mangled a milk jug and some casters. Best BOM item ever: Mangled caster x4

Sketchineering at its finest

[Hgree56]

I remember this past winter we were at an FLL competition demoing with 461. They had their 2012 bot and one of their tiny belts broke and they didn't have spares with them. They ended up using a wristband as a belt and it kinda worked for awhile. I personally loved how simple but creative a fix it was!

[Peyton Yeung]

Originally Posted by Hgree56

I remember this past winter we were at an FLL competition demoing with 461. They had their 2012 bot and one of their tiny belts broke and they didn't have spares with them. They ended up using a wristband as a belt and it kinda worked for awhile. I personally loved how simple but creative a fix it was!

Yeah pretty much all of our questionable "fixes" are belt related. We're getting pretty good at finding out how to connect pulleys without belts.

[Eric Scheuing]

We went into our W1 competition with our shooter guides taped on, and our camera mount was entirely made of tape. No need to be elegant if what you have works.

We do plan on making more permanent solutions to these in the future, but we didn't want to make any major last-minute changes to an already functional and practiced component.

[nedwards28]

2014 rookie year in aerial assist. Robot won't stay in correct configuration at match start. We used zip ties to hold the arm up and then used the autonomous to jerk the robot to a stop hard enough to break said zip ties. We also didn't have enough pneumatic guts to get the ball over the truss without a solid running start.

2015 recycle rush. Needed to spring load some clips that we're supposed to pick up totes by the handles during our second district competition. The only thing we had were hair ties from the girls on the team. Our running joke is that hair ties got us to Worlds.

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by RadonH0926

Since I've been on Cyber Blue, the most "ghetto" solution we had was in 2013 when we replaced a floor pickup system with a blue bucket for taking frisbees from from the HP station.

Despite being a somewhat crude fix, you guys (and gals) wrote a nice whitepaper on why you ditched the vending machine coils for a sawed off bucket. Engineering isn't about "what", but "why" and "how".

Originally Posted by Peyton Yeung

Yeah pretty much all of our questionable "fixes" are belt related. We're getting pretty good at finding out how to connect pulleys without belts.

What is it with 461 and belt incidents... I think the story goes that in 2009 they went with the Archimedes screw because of conveyor belt issues in 2008. At least that's what I heard back then

[dawilliams]

We all have our "offensive" terms. It seems to be the adults who are posting about the offensive terms. Kids may shrug it off if not guided by adult sensibilities. My minority students use the term "n..ga" even though I try to stop them. Terms even mean different things to different people. Lets "chill" (I'm not trying to offend those from northern latitudes) on the whole topic and get back to the real question...

Our first season we used 150 lb zip ties to keep shafts from flexing. It worked great, but I wouldn't brag to my engineer friends... oh wait, yes I would, bc it worked!

We also used a Lowes bucket (not to offend the HD crowd) on our Frizbee collector bin.

[Jay H 237]

I was going to say "What is the most MacGyver'd thing you've seen on a robot?" but I have a feeling most of the posters on here wouldn't know what I was talking about

A lot of stuff gets 'MacGyver'd' the last night of build or between matches when you just need to get something to work in a very short amount of time. Sometimes it works so well it gets left alone

Just remember even people who hold an A&P license now had to get a start somewhere, learning how to work on something when they were younger. When you look back someday at stuff you built in the beginning you'll wonder why you did that (really?! is that what I thought was good?!?! ) but at the time you were just proud you did that AND made it WORK at that time!!!

Knowledge, and refinement, comes with experience

[MikLast]

Originally Posted by Jay H 237

I was going to say "What is the most MacGyver'd thing you've seen on a robot?" but I have a feeling most of the posters on here wouldn't know what I was talking about

Hey, give us "Youngsters" a little credit!

The closest thing i think of is our net in 2014. Lack of materials made it hard, so we got some PVC and a net, attached it to some bolted down wood blocks, and Voila! We have a way to catch balls! Surprisingly enough, the net never fell out (it was not secured in any way except for being inside the wood a few inches) and was part of the reason we went to district champs (too bad we couldn't pay for it...)