I can think of one: spin it around so the “other” side is facing your alliance station. That way you can see better to fill any empty spider legs with your ringers more easily.
However, the rack is very heavy – several hundred pounds – and I really don’t think it’s going to move during a game.
Remember, the plywood Racks that were at the kickoffs were really heavy, but the same structure made out of aluminum tubes won’t be as heavy.
But I agree, I really can’t see how it would be feasible to move or rotate the Rack in the middle of a match.
Plus, that wouldn’t really be in the spirit of FIRST, now would it… 
while them may not be as heavy trust me it was heavy :eek:
I have heard the rack is on a “lazy susan” and it will be given a spin after robots are placed in their starting positions making camera systems essential in finding it.
Instead of saying “supposedly there is a rule”, which is just a way of saying “I think this is how is should be, but I don’t know”, how about citing the actual rule. People who imply they know more than they do can be very dangerous (I should know, one almost killed me last month).
actuallly moving the rack is the ideal stratagey
if you were to say move it right in front of an alliance station, it would not only disrupt the END GAME for your opponans but block ff at least two colums of legs, now if you were to move this into a corner, it would eliminate four legs,
so in theory, if you have four rows covered with ringers, those can’t, and probally wont be touched,
the best offense is a superb defense
Nice try. Did you read Section 6.2 The Rack yet? You can’t move it more than 1 foot in any given direction. Also, you would have to have a drivetrain capable of moving 600 pounds at once (such as team 71’s 2002 design, which is now illegal).
Not that it really matter to my team’s strategy, but in section 6.2.2 “The Rack” it says the “The platform is frimly attached to the floor of the Playing Field. The slack in the chains connecting the structure to the platform permit the RACK to translate approximately One Foot”
while rule G07, as stated before, says that “the center of the RACK is within a **3 foot radius **of the playing field center…”
So which one is it, or is there something I’m missing?
The full rack weighs over 600 pounds. It will take several strong types to move it at the beginning of the match.
Wetzel
Please read the rules.
I’m confused about the apparent contradiction in the rules… in the rules it says that the rack can be moved approximately 1’ in any direction, but it also says that at the beginning of the match the rack may be anywhere up to 3’ away from the center of the field…
The picture seems to represent 1’ as the more realistic distance…
I was told that the rack weighs ~400 lb, and that it could be moved if robots can figure out how to move/turn ~400 lbs of metal.
That is false, I thought that at first, but seeing the actual metal rack at the kickoff in NH it is not on any lazy susan type system.
It’s more representative of a “Chain Chomp” from Super Mario Brothers:
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/4/41/Chain_chompSMB3.PNG
Where the chain holding the “chomp” or in this case the Rack to the floor will only allow 1’ of movement from the center of the post on the base:
400 lbs, vs. 600 lbs isn’t really anything worth squabbling about. It’s still going to be next to impossible to move.
And John, to answer your question, the rack itself can be repositioned at the start of every match within a 3’ radius. The 1’ movement is the distance each set of spider legs is capable of moving from the center of the platform. So, if you move the rack over 2’ feet, the spider legs can still be moved up to 1’ away from the center. If you don’t move the rack at ALL, the spider legs can STILL be moved up to 1’ away from the center.
Hope this helps!
at the beginning of the match they spin the rack so it is harder
ah okay i get it now, thanks a lot Sara!