Legal Anchoring?

[Woody1458]

Is anchoring legal? say I wanted to have the ability to stop in front of my REFILLING STATION so that I could easily receive rocks. I would do this shooting down a rubber pad on a pneumatic linear actuator that would “grip” the floor. The examples in <R06> are for traction devices that propel you, not that stop you, although the wording kind of covers anchoring devices.

[Dantvman27]

I believe the rules state that only the wheels can come in contact with the floor,if i had my rule book, id quote the rule

[system]

That is illegal due to rule R06

“ROBOTs must use ROVER WHEELS (as supplied in the 2009 Kit Of Parts and/or their equivalent as provided by the supplying vendor) to provide traction between the ROBOT and the ARENA.”

So the actuator would be providing traction, therefore, illegal

[Browzilla]

Remember, there’s a decently sized strip of carpet around the outside edges that should provide much more traction than the Regolith.

[sbrumund]

Can you refil your robot at the fueling port or outpost station?

The outpost has one small port for passing an empty cell to the robot who then delivers it to the fueling port.

The rules do not mention refilling a robot with moon rocks at any of the stations or ports. There is a plastic barrier at the fueling port that stops the payload specalist from directly placing moon rocks in the robot. so they would have to be tossed into the robot as it passes

The video does show a robot picking up a moon rock from the crater

[s_forbes]

@Woody1458

Is anchoring legal? say I wanted to have the ability to stop in front of my REFILLING STATION so that I could easily receive rocks. I would do this shooting down a rubber pad on a pneumatic linear actuator that would “grip” the floor. The examples in <R06> are for traction devices that propel you, not that stop you, although the wording kind of covers anchoring devices.

The rules seem to be written so that nothing except the wheels is allowed to ever touch the floor. You can interact with the arena walls though <G29>, so perhaps you could figure out a way to anchor yourself that way.

@Browzilla

Remember, there’s a decently sized strip of carpet around the outside edges that should provide much more traction than the Regolith.

I wonder how much more traction you actually get? Running one of the kit wheels on carpet seemed just as slippery to me as everything else… maybe someone could measure the coefficient of friction just for fun.

[screw_in_my_arm]

I’ll probably get in trouble for posting this here, but…is there any rule that prevents you robot from grabbing onto an opponents trailer.

[screw_in_my_arm]

I’ll probably get in trouble for posting this here, but…is there any rule that prevents you robot from grabbing onto an opponents trailer. I have not read the rules yet, because my computer crashed, and im using my psp for internet, and i cant open pdf’s

[Joe_J]

@screw_in_my_arm

I’ll probably get in trouble for posting this here, but…is there any rule that prevents you robot from grabbing onto an opponents trailer.

yes <G29>

@2009 FRC Manual Section 7.3.5.2 Rule G29

<G29>
Arena Interaction –ROBOTS may push or react against any elements of the ARENA, provided there is no damage or disruption of the ARENA elements. With the exception of a ROBOT towing a TRAILER, ROBOTS may not grab, grasp, grapple, or attach to any ARENA structure. If a ROBOT violates this rule, the TEAM will be given one warning. If the referee determines that the TEAM is disregarding the warning, their ROBOT will be disabled for the remainder of the MATCH. ROBOTS that become entangled in the ARENA elements will not be freed until after the MATCH has finished, unless the entanglement represents a safety hazard.

[Browzilla]

I’ll grab our wheels tomorrow and see what I can find; we’ve got some carpet pretty close to the stuff FIRST usually uses.

Unless someone wants to beat me to it.

Regardless, it’s gonna be better than on Regolith.

[The_Pre]

@Browzilla

Remember, there’s a decently sized strip of carpet around the outside edges that should provide much more traction than the Regolith.

i don’t see the wheels providing good traction on anything except maybe lava, tar, sandpaper or any other non-slick surface. lol

[Laaba_80]

@The Pre

i don’t see the wheels providing good traction on anything except maybe lava, tar, sandpaper or any other non-slick surface. lol

You’re right. We have some carpet from past WI regionals at our shop. We have not driven a robot on it with the wheels, but from testing by hand, it does not grip well at all.

[Mike8519]

Tested the regolith vs carpet today. While there is a difference, the grip is still minimal. Hard plastic is not going to get great grip on nearly any surface.

[EricH]

@sbrumund

Can you refil your robot at the fueling port or outpost station?

The outpost has one small port for passing an empty cell to the robot who then delivers it to the fueling port.

The rules do not mention refilling a robot with moon rocks at any of the stations or ports. There is a plastic barrier at the fueling port that stops the payload specalist from directly placing moon rocks in the robot. so they would have to be tossed into the robot as it passes

The video does show a robot picking up a moon rock from the crater

Psst…The moon rocks can be entered through that port too. I seem to recall that the Payload Specialist gets some of those, too.

The Fueling Port also has the AIRLOCK (a barrier) in front of it. (Besides the rules about the alliance station wall, of course.)

I would say that yes, you can feed the robots, but mind your aim!