Chicken wire(Mesh) "Tangled in other robots?"

[andrew_4_life]

There is a rule that says that if you use something that may tangle other robots or something. You may lose points. Our team is thinking of using chicken wire(mesh) to enclose our robot in, but aren't sure if it is allowed or if it will cuase us to lose points in games. The holes aren't very big (about 1 cm)

Can anyone clarify?

[Greg Needel]

There is no rule that causes you to loose points, but if your robot becomes an entanglement hazard during the match you will be disabled and asked to fix the problem before your next match.

As for chicken wire please follow the acceptable use flowchart and if you want an official ruling on it please have your team Q&A representative post it on the official FIRST Q&A system. http://usfirst.org/robotics/2006/qa.htm


In my own opinion i think it would be allowed but i still recommend asking in the Q&A forum

[andrew_4_life]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

There is no rule that causes you to loose points, but if your robot becomes an entanglement hazard during the match you will be disabled and asked to fix the problem before your next match.

As for chicken wire please follow the acceptable use flowchart and if you want an official ruling on it please have your team Q&A representative post it on the official FIRST Q&A system. http://usfirst.org/robotics/2006/qa.htm


In my own opinion i think it would be allowed but i still recommend asking in the Q&A forum

But I guess if you are disabled and you can't score anything or go to the platform for the bonus points, its kinda like losing points.

Thanks for the response

[Leo 1529]

i think that chicken wire might have to be covered just so that getting rammed or other basic robotics match stuff doesnt cause the wire to get bent so that the other robots will get tangled

[steven114]

I won't vouch for its legality this year, but we have used it multiple times in the past with no issues. We used the small-holed kind.

[ICE MAN]

Originally Posted by andrew_4_life

There is a rule that says that if you use something that may tangle other robots or something. You may lose points. Our team is thinking of using chicken wire(mesh) to enclose our robot in, but aren't sure if it is allowed or if it will cuase us to lose points in games. The holes aren't very big (about 1 cm)

Can anyone clarify?

i do not believe that is legal. i believe the judges would rule that as entanglement and possibly pinning. in which case you can only pin an opponent robot for 10seconds. don't ask, it happened to us when we got stuck on top of an opposing robot last year.

[riboSquirrel]

Originally Posted by ICE MAN

i do not believe that is legal. i believe the judges would rule that as entanglement and possibly pinning. in which case you can only pin an opponent robot for 10seconds. don't ask, it happened to us when we got stuck on top of an opposing robot last year.

i am wondering if i can hear that story... but i would think of checking out the book like twice before saying something...

[Peter Matteson]

In 2004 this ended up being a big issue after a match between 469 (Los Guerillas) and 93 (New Apple Corps) in a Galileo semifinal. The link here is the moderated thread that was created after Nationals to discuss the issue.

To state my point as clearly as possible:
If you have anything on your robot that another robot can get tangled on don't be surprised if it happens and they damage your robot.

To avoid this problem in 2004 we used plastic window sreen material because it was see through and the holes are so small you have a negligible chance of getting caught on them. A material more like that would be better.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...t=entanglement

[anna~marie]

A few years ago my team had a run in with another team who had used chicken wire... long story short their electronics made magic smoke.

[Sean Schuff]

Originally Posted by Dzdconfusd

In 2004 this ended up being a big issue after a match between 468 (Los Guerillas) and 93 (New Apple Corps) in a Galileo semifinal. The link here is the moderated thread that was created after Nationals to discuss the issue.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...t=entanglement

Been there. Done that. Avoid it at all costs!!

It is better to err on the side of caution than to put yourself in a position to have a referee or judge make a call against you.

Build smart!

Sean

[Ianworld]

Chicken wire while maybe legal and while i've seen it on robots before doesn't mean you should use it. I don't know what exactly you're using it for but as others have stated above there are better materials for whatever you're doing. Chickenwire gets bent, crushed, broken, torn and destroyed very easily by first robots. Its made for arts and crafts not with 150 pounds robots. So use thin gauge lexan, the nylatron cloth for the bumpers, or any of many other industrial see through materials(check mecmaster for meshes.)

[KenWittlief]

I thought chicken wire was made for chickens?

You dont want people calling your creation the ChickenBot, do you?

Seriously though, unless two robots are completely covered on all sides by body panels (like a car + panels underneath) you can crash just about ANY two bots together and something will get tangled in something (wires, chains, hoses, cables, pulleys, grabbers). Its very difficult to build a completely enclosed robot.

Chicken wire in the right places, more on the inside of the bot where its not subjected to being snagged by anything that brushes against the side of your robot - that would be better than nothing. Keep in mind the only place that robots ARE allowed to make contact with each other is bumper to bumper! Im sure you are not thinking of designing chicken wire bumpers.

One problem with chicken wire is that its hard to properly attach. You cant just put one screw in each corner - you would need to design a frame to hold panels in place.

The easiest thing to use is alum sheet metal: easy to cut, easy to attach, very strong, takes paint nicely, and you can get away with one screw in each corner to hold it in place.

[andrew_4_life]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Seriously though, unless two robots are completely covered on all sides by body panels (like a car + panels underneath) you can crash just about ANY two bots together and something will get tangled in something (wires, chains, hoses, cables, pulleys, grabbers). Its very difficult to build a completely enclosed robot.

Chicken wire in the right places, more on the inside of the bot where its not subjected to being snagged by anything that brushes against the side of your robot - that would be better than nothing. Keep in mind the only place that robots ARE allowed to make contact with each other is bumper to bumper! Im sure you are not thinking of designing chicken wire bumpers.

One problem with chicken wire is that its hard to properly attach. You cant just put one screw in each corner - you would need to design a frame to hold panels in place.

The easiest thing to use is alum sheet metal: easy to cut, easy to attach, very strong, takes paint nicely, and you can get away with one screw in each corner to hold it in place.

Chicken wire is also called mesh.
No we are not using it for bumpers.
Anyways, we need something to enclose our robot(all 4 sides) but needs to be seen through, and also light!
We cannot use lexan for 1 simple reason, we have none!
Why can't we buy some? Because we have no money.
The total amount of materials we bought is substantially under $500.
We pretty much slavaged everything from last years robot.

The chicken wire isn't that hard to attatch, just lots of drilling and screwing.

The best idea for our situation is mesh/chicken wire.

unless someone is willing to provide us with 4 pieces of lexan that is about 36x26