We are working on our Level 3 climber and are quite worried about how to meet Rule G04 (reprinted below).
Obviously no one wants to tumble from Level 3 to the floor, but without power and special tools many of the ideas we have come up with are not looking good. Some of our thoughts (and their downfalls):
Get a beefy worm gear drive
-> Would need power to reverse it
Use a good number of CIMs
-> Would back drive when power lost and robot would fall =(
Use a ratcheting mechanism of some sort
-> Unless we have a really tall person it will be hard to disengage from the floor
Use a pneumatic piston to drive in a lock somewhere to hold the robot
-> We would have to drain the air and slide the lock out. ALso difficult without a tall person.
There seems to be a direct conflict between keeping the robot locked securely on the pyramid and removing it without power or special tools. Perhaps I am overlooking something simple and maybe you can help.
We are planning to submit a Q&A if we can’t think of something good that allows us zero risk of falling off level 3 and meets G04.
-matto-
*Rule G04:
After the MATCH, ROBOTS may only be removed from a PYRAMID under the following conditions:
A. by the TEAM while standing on the floor without special equipment,
B. unpowered,
C. and under the supervision of a FIRST Technical Advisor (FTA), FTA Assistant, Referee, or Field Supervisor.
Additionally, if any part of the ROBOT is in Level 3, TEAMS are required to attach a FIRST supplied belay line, detailed in Section 2.2.5, to their ROBOT to spot a ROBOT while the TEAM removes it from the PYRAMID.
I’ve been waiting to see how this develops as well. I have no clue how they expect to attach a belay line to the top of a robot that is 6ft+ off the ground without using a step ladder. To assert that a step ladder is unsafe and cannot be used by teams but can by field staff seems rather hypocritical. I have the feeling that they haven’t quite thought this through.
Q115
Q.Regarding the G4 “A” Update (2013-01-11) - For a robot completely within zone 3, how will the belay be attached if the attachment points are above the reach of the team? And will the belay mechanism allow a robot to be lifted slightly if that is necessary to remove it?
A.If the ROBOT cannot be removed from the PYRAMID under the constraints listed in [G04], the Team would receive a YELLOW CARD.
It would seem that you are not allowed to climb any higher than the tallest member of your team can reach.
G04
After the MATCH, ROBOTS may only be removed from a PYRAMID under the following conditions:
A. by the TEAM while standing on the floor without special equipment,
B. unpowered,
C. and under the supervision of a FIRST Technical Advisor (FTA), FTA Assistant, Referee, or Field Supervisor.
Additionally, if any part of the ROBOT is in Level 3, TEAMS are required to attach a FIRST supplied belay line, detailed in Section 2.2.5, to their ROBOT to spot a ROBOT while the TEAM removes it from the PYRAMID.
Violation: YELLOW CARD
I’m not quite sure what to say about this. I wonder what they consider “special equipment”? Would a 3’ stick with a hook to disengage a ratchet be considered “special equipment”?
Well since I am not 6’5"+, I consider myself physically handicapped. Good thing I own an artificial limb that measures 3ft long with a hook on the end.
I wouldn’t count on this…the rule states that the robot will be removed “by the team” and “under the supervision of…” event staff (emphasis mine).
I asked the Q&A question quoted above, thinking that some assistance would be provided, but it seems that (from the response) that will not be the case. I would interpret that a team who needs assistance in any way getting their robot down will be issued the yellow card.
Our plan is to use hooks, as previously noted in Post 2, so the person can simply lift it off the pyramid. To keep the arm locked in place, we’ll use something like this, with a 393 motor, an 84-tooth VEX gear, and some fishing line to unlatch it as we ascend.
The no special equipment rule sort of surprises me. I can remember 1114 in 2010 using a small custom built tool to safely unlatch their one-way latch from the tower without pinching fingers. Is something like that really outlawed in 2013?
as a kind of follow up to everything about the BELAY system; it’s not meant to aid you in removing your robot, it’s meant to ensure that the robot doesn’t fall while you are removing it.
Q. May the belay system be used to lift the ROBOT a small distance to aid in releasing it from the PYRAMID before lowering the ROBOT after the MATCH?
A. No. The belay system is meant as a safety against falling ROBOTS, not a removal tool.
So, I suggest designing a trigger that you can reach to release your robot, and your BELAY attachment points to be closer to the bottom of your robot
As a mentor I really have a problem if a team cannot reach the top of the pyramid to unlock their robot. I would imagine that we will have girl’s teams that will have great difficulty with this. The 90" pipe is just that… 90" or 7.5 feet above the floor… I am 5 11 and the tips of my fingers are almost exactly 8’ off the floor. For a 5’6" student I am sure they will barely reach the pipe.
I would also like to state that this is a safety hazard, with or without the “belay system” This is the reason we have ladders.
I don’t want my students to be put in a situation where they can’t reach the third level to unlatch the robot. The
Where is the logic in not allowing a short team to climb the pyramid with their robot just to get a yellow card and then a red the 2nd time? Why design a game like this? (I don’t mean students climbing on the pyramid…)
Just lifting a 155 lb weight up by a few inches from a height of over 5 feet is not going to be easy. Of course those of us with big male or female students (over 6 feet tall) can figure out how to do this… but it is inherently unsafe to be under this robot… that includes the belay.
A belay can slip… it is a human interaction…
Ask any of us who have done climbing…
If a robot comes off the top and starts to drop… I will be surprised if the belay will catch it unless it is attached to the operator’s body with a harness AND he/she knows what they are doing…they have to take in slack to their body harness point. Perhaps all of the field personnel will be specially trained and outfitted with the proper equipment to do this… but it is not how it was shown in the video…
If a belay slips… the students or anyone under the robot gets hurt.
It makes sense to have the proper equipment on the field… such as ladders for the lifters that will put them out from under the robot so they can lift with their legs instead of pushing up with their arms/legs from underneath.
It is a travesty if teams get yellow cards because they are attempting to apply the proper safety precautions.
GDC please rethink this… what is the point of the yellow card for a piece of safety equipment or any other means that allows the safe removal of the robot? Does it give a team an unfair advantage to do a safe removal?
I can see their reasoning here. For whatever reason, there’s many dangerous things we can do but ladders are a huge liability and insurance issue. Additionally, allowing unregulated equipment onto the field can cause a safety hazard. I would not want to get whacked in the head by someone’s hook removal pole in careless hands and close quarters.
A belay system that involves a significant mechanical advantage (think pulleys) could be used without much training or other equipment - someone holding it in their hands can reasonably be expected to apply 25-50 lbs of force on the rope to stop a robot.
I do find it interesting and slightly disturbing that the rules/GDC is effectively being biased against teams that are vertically challenged, literally limiting their performance capabilities. By which, I mean a team with 1 or 2 tall individuals would have no such problem where a team that doesn’t will.
My team is not personally effected by this (we’ve got tall, strong people), but it still seems unfair nonetheless to teams that don’t.
I agree with this discussion. I think the G04 problem will be a significant issue for some teams.
I also wonder. By Who and When will the belay system be attached to the robot? If by the field personal then they must have a ladder to reach the attach points right? The rule does not state that the belay must be attached by someone from the ground?
