Apparently ramps are going to be very common this year. With this said, what are your ideas on how to prevent your alliance robot from catching their chassis on the corner of the ramp (the transition from sloping ramp to platform parallel to the ground). Our robot may have a simple middle wheel on each side raised sightly above the drive wheels which will work on any degree ramp (as long as the front wheel can get to it). Though, not all teams may incorporate something to get similar results. I was thinking a roller at the transition, but this isnt as simple as one can say. So your ideas??
16 degrees, give a take a degree.
I’ve just been reading how some are designing with a mere 2-3 inch ground clearance with a max climb angle of 14 or so.
Just want to make the bot is as universally adaptable and acceptable for everyones needs, 'cause you never really know what your going to get until your there.
Isn’t that going to be very difficult for teams with compromised traction such as teams with omni wheels or swerve drives?
It shouldn’t be a problem for teams with six wheel tank drives or tracks.
Exactly. It will be hard, but ive worked up a pretty much slip resistant design for the ramps, its just that transition which we are all pretty stumped on
This is a very intersting point, especially as it relates to climbing 12" high ramps.
We’re designing with 4" ground cleareance (in the center), which allows for a ramp as steep and high as last year (which happened to be 12" high). I forget the angle, but I believe it’s a bit more than 30 degrees.
In the end, regardless of how you do it (ground clearance, skid pad, 6 wheel drive, etc…), you definately want to keep ramp climbing in mind (assuming you’re not the ramp!).
There are some things you can do…the ramp can have a rounded or multi-angle transistion. Part of the platform could sit higher than 12", to make it easier to get on, and still keep the angled part of the ramp kind of short. Some commercially available motorcycle ramps are rounded near the top to ease the transition, see if you could copy the design.
We’ve designed a 4 wheel drive system which is very much centered at the front of the robot, with the back being supported by casters. That way, even if we do bottom out we will be able to drag ourselves up a ramp with the front wheel drive.
As for our ramp, we have allowed for a shallower angle than last year’s playing field, and we hope to round the top corner.
Right now, our ramp is just under 17 degrees. Our 2005 bot had 2 inches of ground clearance and it seems to be able to climb it fine. We may change the design, so the angle will be closer to 13 or 14.
our robot is fairly low clearance, probably not enough you climb a ramp, but like perviously said we should be able to drag ourselves up with our front wheel drive, we are going to be lifting most of the time anyways, so maybe we wont have to
This reply is for rockahawk. If you were here, you would know that we have a1 1/2 clearance to the frame and the ramp is 17.13 deg. Whick is not less than 17. Knucklehead. :eek:
That’s what I was thinking…
Why not use a curved ramp? A transitional ramp with an intermediate slope between the ramp and platform? Both would reduce the corner and make the transition easier.
There are other things you can do, one is to make a ramp that is angled all the way up, with no horizontal part, although you might need some type of brake to keep the robot from rolling back down when power goes off at the buzzer. Or make a teeter-totter ramp, that is angled all the way up and when the robot gets past the tip point, it falls back level.
Don’t forget the fact that some teams will be using bumpers and some teams will not.
All else being equal those that eschew bumpers (us included) will have less issues with ramp bottoming than those that use bumpers. There were quite a few teams last year that discovered late in the build that the bumper added a whole new wrinkle when it came to maneuvering up the 30 degree incline.
That’s 'cause all us hot rod guys like working with mechanical things and robots fill that void during the cold months. I just wish the deuce was really mine…
Seriously, bumpers are sometimes a second thought with teams. The 30 dedgree ramp last year stumped quite a few people. We striving for 20 degrees or less to accomodate the majority.
