in the pits

[Zippiot]

i have a few questions about wut we can "play with" in the pits. some of them are given nos but i just wanna check
first off can me make a tiny robot (like a 1 foot square bot) equipped with a camera to drive around the pits, we wud steer it from a monitor at our pit, and possibly record it and such.

the next few im sure arent allowed but i wanna be sure
can we fly a r/c blimp with a camera to get a birds eye view of the pits?
can we put giant green halogens on our bot to distract the sensors on other bots?
can we use a hovercraft (made on many small hover "pods") to transport our robot, the hovercrafts will make it extremely easy to move and such. actually at nationals we saw little tug robots used to pull their main bot so i think this one might be allowed.
can we have a camera on the bot that records battles ,wireless it transmits to our pit where we will have a tv/vcr.
if i think of anything else ill post it...

[FusionDude364]

I would think that in an area as crowded in the pits your robot would have serious trouble. It is a cool idea, but the pits are generally very crowded with people (at nationals anyway) and your robot may get stepped on, kicked, etc. If you were thinking using it for scouting purposes then it would be better to just go ask a team questions and take a camera to take pictures of their robot.

[Billfred]

Welcome to ChiefDelphi! (By the way, the locals appreciate punctuation and spelling. There's a spell check right by the post button.)

In the order you asked them... no, you wouldn't be able to drive around a mini-robot. The pit lanes are crowded enough.

As for the blimp, I doubt that would be allowed. Safety, and FIRST Engineering frowns upon wireless cameras, as they tend to use the same frequencies as the robots themselves.

Green halogens? NO, NO, NO. Check the manual for details.

Hovercraft to haul the bot? I can't see why this would be disallowed, assuming it is safe and relatively quiet. However, build that hovercraft to last, or bring a little red wagon just in case.

Again, wireless cameras tend to be disallowed. Have someone contact FIRST about it.

[Zippiot]

thanks for the quick replies, and im sorry for my puncuation and spelling i usually look at the keyboard when i type. are these definate no's or just an educated guess?
as far as the camera goes is there any way to do it or is it just out of the question?
the hovercraft is no louder than the puts themselves, and sice we made it out of 4 small hover pods it doesn't lean, meaning that it stays in place unless we move it.

another question, are there restrictions on "tug bots" (separate bots we make to tow our robot, most likely ride on)?

[Greg Ross]

Originally Posted by Zippiot

...im sorry for my puncuation and spelling i usually look at the keyboard when i type.

[dons curmudgeon hat]
No excuse. Please proofread before you post.

It's one thing if you have a learning disability, and are unable to learn to spell and punctuate correctly. But from your excuse that you "usually look at the keyboard while [you] type", I surmise that had you read before you posted, you could have corrected the errors. Therefore, no excuse.

If it's worth posting, it's worth taking pride in. Please proofread.
[doffs curmudgeon hat]

[russell]

I personally am really bad at grammar and such. I dont remember ever being taught, but I may just have forgotten. Just thought Id throw that in.

[D.Fahringer]

I would always want to see something cool and unique at these events, but you have to be reasonable. Not all people are going to be as enthusiastic as you with your new creation. I am pretty sure the hovercraft cart would be blowing dirt, dust and little metal chips into the breathing air of teams near the floor working on their robots. There is leakage around the skirt to consider. Use it for technical education, fund-raising, and FUN !

[Koko Ed]

I still remember that massive boombox on wheels that one team had in Atlanta (forgot the number) and beside it being illegal I wonder how well they got along with the otehr teams who probably don't want to hear thumping bass all day long.
Remember, if you're looking to make something unique one, make sure it is within the rule and two make sure it's not going to turn every team against you. I'd rather have the support, goodwill and respect of every FIRST team at the competition than to have something cool and everybody hates our guts.

[dlavery]

My all-time favorite "addition" to the pit area was contributed during the 1998 Championship Competition in Orlando. One of the Florida teams (perhaps 233/Space Coast?) arrived with an eight-foot-tall Trojan Rabbit, right out of Monty Python! The entire thing fit over one of the team members who was riding a bicycle, and they wheeled it around the pits and food court areas all weekend long, threatening to storm the castle of any team that beat them in the competition. It was great! (and it worked wonderfully, all the way up to the point where the French team threw a cow at them; but that is another story... ) If anyone still has any pictures of that contraption, I would love to see them!



-dave

[Zippiot]

At my regional team 254 (cheesy poofs) had one of the car stereos on wheels, and it was cool for a while but it soon soured...
Does anyone else have an idea for something cool to make for the competition?
At the nationals last year i saw a little bicycle, but it had 2 wheels in front and 1 in back, anyways it was powered by a small battery and i think one of the black motors (cim or somethign like that) and my team liked that. Would a squad of little contraptions like that be ok (at my regional we can store stuff outside to keep it out of the way)? If not a squad at least a few, maybe one that has a trailer with a bench on it to transport the driver and the other 2 kids along with the mentor to the feild. You guys seem to be against a powered cart to move the bot, but what about one to transport us around?

[russell]

keep in mind that the people on the intercom will flip if they pick up a lot of radio noise coming from the pits. You cannot use your robot with radio modems in the pits (though I was just reading stuff on the controller and its supposed to identify the team number), so if your mini bot, blimp, or any of the rest of the stuff was going to use a radio (900 whatever units i believe is frequency the bots use) you might want to clear it with FIRST first.

[dez250]

Originally Posted by Zippiot

i have a few questions about wut we can "play with" in the pits. some of them are given nos but i just wanna check
first off -(A)- can me make a tiny robot (like a 1 foot square bot) equipped with a camera to drive around the pits, we wud steer it from a monitor at our pit, and possibly record it and such.

the next few im sure arent allowed but i wanna be sure:
-(B)- can we fly a r/c blimp with a camera to get a birds eye view of the pits?
-(C)- can we put giant green halogens on our bot to distract the sensors on other bots?
-(D)- can we use a hovercraft (made on many small hover "pods") to transport our robot, the hovercrafts will make it extremely easy to move and such. actually at nationals we saw little tug robots used to pull their main bot so i think this one might be allowed.
-(E)- can we have a camera on the bot that records battles ,wireless it transmits to our pit where we will have a tv/vcr.
if i think of anything else ill post it...

I Labled them to make it a lil easier to help answer...

-(A)- No this would be a hazard to people moving through the pits and could create some problems.

-(B)- If it contains helium then no, your cant bring helium into FIRST events, its a hazard. Otherwise, maybe but you'll have to clear the camera with FIRST Staff prior to using it.

-(C)- No this is against multiple rules and please see this thread: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=32226

-(D)- I dont know about this, if it is going to be hazardous you probablly will be asked not to use it. I would say test it out make sure its not going to cause any problems and bring a push cart so if you are asked to not use it, you have a backup plan.

-(E)- Like question B, you would have to clear this with FIRST Staff prior to use on the bot, it would have to be fed to a seperate area where recoding can be done off of and it cant be a 900MHz transmission. Check with team 100 about this they have had a camera on their bot before.

Hope some of this helps...

[Zippiot]

wow you guyz are awsome!
so on the blimp i thought that they would have had a problem with sumthing flying around, but is there a rule against it? and if not hellium what to use ( after a deaf left ear and many lost eyebrows i dont plan on using hydrogen)?

[Zippiot]

can we have removeable green plates? i know we would have to weight in with them on.
also any rules on the tug bot (like a slow tank drive kart thing)?

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Zippiot

can we have removeable green plates?

NO. Read the manual and search these forums. You'll get answers to these questions a lot faster.