Here’s our 10th anniversary robot xtremachen10. We affectionately call him “Snoopy”.
The minibike motors in our 3 speed gearboxes were a casualty of weight traded for functionality elsewhere. 2 speed AM servo shifters should suffice for our primary strategy.
Brecoflex treads return again this year - we’ve had good luck with them, although we may go in a new direction next season.
The ramp is very sturdy - made out of steel (yes, steel) U-channel frame building material donated by Dietrich Industries. Each Ultrasteel panel has been extensively CNC’d for weight savings, but they still maintain their strength. I’m a big guy (one of the biggest in FIRST!), and I could stand on top of the deck with no problems.
There are 2 A-frame wings - one on each side of the bot. One side folds down to form a relatively shallow ramp in the 15 degree range. The other side folds out to a platform level with the main robot deck. There is plenty of room for 2 robots up there.
The outer parts of the ramps are spring hinged and are released to spring outward by a small cylinder that “pulls the pin” on 2 small cables. 2 larger cylinders actuate each side outward, where gravity does the rest. The hinges aren’t strong enough to pop the outer wing sections up all the way, but the ramps effectively separate once they hit the ground.
Currently, there’s only one entry point to our ramps, but we are considering modifying the ramp to provide 2 access points, one on each side of the bot. After Week 1, who thinks we should try this? LOL opinions welcome. We are also planning on trimming down the “guard rail” sections to help robots with lower ground clearances move on up.
We plan on adding inner “guard rail” lips to the ramps in Pittsburgh to go with the existing outer rails. This should hopefully keep robots fairly aligned as they drive on the ramps.