What counts as “lifting” a robot?
Is a “lift” just if no parts of the alliance robot are touching the ground? Or is this a too-broad definition?
I’m pretty sure not touching the ground is an accurate description.
Because some people were talking about using a ramp to get a robot to a certain height, which I think was established as acceptable.
The rules state:
In order to earn the Lifting
Bonus, the lifted Robot must be fully supported by the Alliance partner’s Robot and not by any other game
object (i.e. 100% of the weight of a robot must be supported by the Alliance partner’s Robot).
So yes, it looks like as long as the robot is not touching the ground or any game elements, it counts. The ramps would work, because having the robot on top of the other counts as being fully supported by the bottom robot.
It would be really cool if your robot could climb on top of the other robot, just throwing it out there.
Ah, okay. That makes sense. Thanks.
Say you were to deploy a ramp to the top of the robot and the robot being lifted only made it half way up the ramp, but is completely on the ramp…would this be considered a legal lift and earn points?
They will score the ‘lift’ based upon the lowest point of the robot, as defined in the rules. You should experiment to see if what kinds of robots will stay in place after power is cut while on a ramp.
I wondered about this also. Someone asked the official USFIRST.org FTC Game Q & A about the following 3 scenarios:
- Robot A deploys a ramp and Robot B drives up the ramp.
- Robot A deploys a platform onto which Robot B drives. Robot A then lifts the platform, thus lifting Robot B.
- Robot A deploys a jack-type mechanism. Robot B drives over it. Robot A operates the jack to lift Robot B.
And were told that all 3 would be legal.
On a related note, someone asked if the floor was a field element (“Lifting Robots may not use any field elements (i.e. the Rack, Ring Dispensers, etc.) to aid with the lifting of a Robot.”) and were told:
It depends on what is meant by “the floor.” The Lifting Robot is allowed to be in contact with the Playing Field’s foam tile floor. The Center Floor Goal is a Field Element and therefore, Robots may NOT be in contact with the Center Floor Goal and receive Lifting Bonus points.
So trying to take advantage of the added height of the Center Floor Goal would invalidate the lift.