Ramp or No Ramp

[Cyber Punk 234]

Hey I was just seeing if teams thought how hard and if it is important to get up on the ramp at the end of the match. If so can you?

-John

[Arefin Bari]

Team 1345 made a prototype chassis which has been posted on the forum few days ago. That chassis goes up the ramp very easily. So yes, it is worth it and you can do it fairly easily. Also, I was in team 179's shop the other day and their 2k5 robot rides up the ramp very easily. The clearance for swampy 2k5 was 2 1/2". Keep in mind the ramp was made out of plywood.

... question is how much difference is it going to make with the diamond plate and the top of the platform?

[Steve W]

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

Team 1345 made a prototype chassis which has been posted on the forum few days ago. That chassis goes up the ramp very easily. So yes, it is worth it and you can do it fairly easily. Also, I was in team 179's shop the other day and their 2k5 robot rides up the ramp very easily. The clearance for swampy 2k5 was 2 1/2". Keep in mind the ramp was made out of plywood.

... question is how much difference is it going to make with the diamond plate and the top of the platform?

Lots. The grip is just not there. I was surprised when we tried it the first time and noticed the slip factor. When you build, you will see.

[Lil' Lavery]

Most qualification matches will be decided by the ramp. You can quote me on that one.

[Stu Bloom]

I think we will see a lot of robots tipping over, either fighting to get on the platform, or just with a high CG that doesn't accomodate that 30º ramp.

[Ian Curtis]

The Ramp will be important. I'd rather have a dump truck robot with a high powered drive train, and the ability to make it up the ramp, than one with omni wheels that can shoot 3 pointers and not make it up the ramp.

[663.keith]

I believe that it will be important to get up the ramp, but also, teams can help each other up. I remember in the animation the blue shovel bot pushed the other two up the ramp to get all three 'bots on. I think if a team had a good bot to go up the ramp he could easily push an omniwheel bot up

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by 663.keith

I believe that it will be important to get up the ramp, but also, teams can help each other up. I remember in the animation the blue shovel bot pushed the other two up the ramp to get all three 'bots on. I think if a team had a good bot to go up the ramp he could easily push an omniwheel bot up

In my opinion, bad idea. We broke several of the little rollers off our omni wheels last year, and that was just going over pipe. I'd think that the omni wheels would break when getting pushed up that ramp. Also, if a robot is not built to make it up such inclines, you could damage their frame. If you want to make friends, ask before pushing robots up the ramp. You don't want to damage a robot. There are six weeks of sweat, tears, and hopefully purely metaphorical blood into that robot.

[kaszeta]

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

... question is how much difference is it going to make with the diamond plate and the top of the platform?

Based upon my experiences hanging out in the practice area in 2004 (FIRST Frenzy, with the stairs leading up to the middle), a lot. A saw no end of robots that could reliably climb wood stairs, but failed miserably on the diamond plate.

Diamond plate is fairly slick if your traction doesn't grip the diamonds.

[Donut]

Our robot cannot do the ramp. We built the robot without caring about the ramp, and tested to see if we could. Our chains hang too low and hit the corners of the ramp as we go up, plus our robot is too tall and falls over on the incline (at least at a stand still).

We believe the ramp will be unimportant to us though. If there are not 2 robots already on your platform, it is worth 5 points. Two balls shot in the center at the end is worth more than this. If there are 2 already on yours, you need to now make up 15 points, but this can be done by shooting in 5 balls, OR by shooting in a few balls and pushing one of your opponents at the end so they cannot get on the ramp. Taking away 5 or 15 points from your opponents is the same as scoring it for you, plus you get whatever you shoot in beforehand.

[dude__hi]

Our robot will be able to make it up the ramp even with the omni wheels in the front. Our back tires will have enough grip to push up the ramp and we've incorporated brakes to the wheels to make sure we don't slide back down at the end of the match.

[varcsscotty]

brakes are a good idea. I was thinking about that.
We will aslo be able to make the ramp.

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by varcsscotty

brakes are a good idea. I was thinking about that.

Brakes? We ain't got no brakes! We don't got to use no stinkin' brakes! What is the back wall of the platform for, anyway?

[psycho7]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

Brakes? We ain't got no brakes! We don't got to use no stinkin' brakes! What is the back wall of the platform for, anyway?

right...brakes, I have to say it's a good idea, thanks for it. and btw, I agree high CG bots will lose at the ramp, but I think the ramp will play a big part just not as big as lil'lavery made it out to be.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by psycho7

right...brakes, I have to say it's a good idea, thanks for it. and btw, I agree high CG bots will lose at the ramp, but I think the ramp will play a big part just not as big as lil'lavery made it out to be.

The ramp make a big difference in the qualifiers becuase team's won't be scoring as much and it'll make a big difference in the eliminations because scores will be so similar.

And on the subject of brakes... Is it legal for robot's to become temporarily airborne? It is a very freaky experience watching an AM transmission in fast speed making it's way towards your alliance station, with a jump between you and it.