I cant seem to find any rules regarding this: Can any part of our robot start on or over the bumper?
Nope. Keep it within the frame perimeter at the start of the match
It would probably be beneficial for you and your team to take some time to study the Game Manual again. Think about and discuss what the implications are for each rule and how the different rules may interact. If you are asking about such a fundamental robot design rule, it is likely you also have a lack of understanding of the robot game rules.
The term you are searching for in the Game Manual is STARTING CONFIGURATION. You’ll find it in a few places…
H309, R101, R102*, R104, and the Glossary.
*I highlighted this one for a reason. I leave the determination of what that reason is as an exercise for the reader.
To chime in a bit. I can say from experience that if you have a mechanism that is in the perimeter, but falls out easily (especially with preloaded cargo), it makes for a headache at your event. Also using the alliance wall to keep the mechanism up when the robot is disabled is not allowed either.
Partly because you aren’t starting on the alliance wall this year…
There’s a few tricks to help with that, if you’re planning ahead. A roll of masking tape or gaff tape in a team color, a couple strips of velcro, maybe some zip ties… maybe even a counterweight in the right spot. Of course, it’s always better to not need any of those tricks.
Oh yes. I knew that and totally forgot. Sorry.
These are great tips. We tried some of them to no avail. However, we have also learned to design our mechanisms to be a bit more reliable (hopefully).
Just make sure you tape them on the side you don’t want to break.
Zip ties that you want to stay on and shoot the tape off? Damage.
Zip ties that you intend to break off and fall to the field? Red card =/
It is also not a good idea to use any of the limits spelled out in the rules as a design goal i.e. maximum weight, maximum frame perimeter, maximum height, frame perimeter. Manufacturing tolerances and wear can easily cause issues. I have seen quite a few teams where some mechanism was designed to be flush with their frame perimeter at the start of the match and over a number of matches, all the pivot points started to wear and the mechanism would no longer stay flush with the frame perimeter on it’s own. I recall one team in 2019 where their intake mechanism would just barely hold the Cargo ball when it was flush with the frame perimeter but would hold it securely when it sagged out. There were many matches where the Referees told them to push the intake back in before the match started and that caused the preloaded Cargo ball to fall out after some time.
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