For teams that use handles to lift their robot, where did you find the handles? I asking because my team wants to implement handles on the robot this year, and we don’t know where to find them.
We made our own. They are a piece of steel ~1" diameter tube with hooks screwed into each end. I will try to get a picture of them tomorrow.
I have seen teams use door/drawer pulls similar to these:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-6-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Heavy-Duty-Door-Pull-15460/202034119
And pieces of strap material riveted/screwed down, and even bits of rope routed through holes and knotted.
Added: also, check pics of 2013 robots - handles were actually required that year to support getting robots off the pyramid.
1 Like
You can put some eyebolts into the frame somewhere and attach/de-attach carabiners with some straps on them to lift as necessary.
Make sure the eyebolts are very secure.
3 Likes
We use these from mcmaster-carr. They work well with the KoP chasis because they line up with the hole spacing on the side rails and they take 10-32 screws.
1 Like
We also use the eyebolts with carabineers and seatbelt webbing for the straps we really like this because it doesn’t add weight to the robot weight but the bumper weight because we use the eyebolts to secure the bumper
2 Likes
Works great. Fits the kitbot and a versachassis. Just watch out for cargo ship overhangs 
2 Likes
We use handles very similar to this. I am not sure exactly what kinda handle they are, you could probably find something a lot better on McMaster but the plastic handles work great every year and we have never had any issues with them breaking during the season
1 Like
Plastic handles seem lighter. An even lighter approach may be to have small loops of cord on the robot & keep clip-on handles on the cart (like the ones used for exercising with resistance bands).
We have used a method posted by 610 a few years ago. Crimped steel wire with pneumatic tubing over it.
We’ve been making our own simple handles the past few years, they work fine. Use flat 1/2 or 3/4" x 1/8" aluminum strap, available at the hardware or building supply, and bend it into a U shape with mounting tabs. Make sure they’re tall enough. But the design of the robot really dictates exactly what you can use for handles…since you didn’t specify what chassis you’re using, this idea that works well on the kit chassis, might not work at all on your robot.
3 Likes
Various solutions have been presented by different people. The most important thing would be to design them in from the beginning (i.e. put them in your CAD if you do CAD) so they are of a type and in the locations that make sense for your robot as @MrForbes suggested.
On my son’s team, they used pieces of rope passed through pieces of PVC tubing as handles and S-hooks to go into eye-bolts in the chassis. The drive team just kept these in their pockets during the matches.
Loops of rope, permanently attached to the chassis also works. One must be careful that they don’t get sucked into the gearbox or chains though…
We’ve used hooks in the past, but find that permanent handles are significantly more convenient. Again, the design of the robot kind of determines what handles you can use, so thinking about it all through the design and build process is the best way to go.
1 Like
We’re also considering buying or making something like these luggage handles for 2020. The idea is they pull themselves flat, out of the way, when not in use:
1 Like
We use a Paracord handle, which is super comfortable and actually reduces the strain on your poor fingers.
It’s essentially just a bit of paracord wrapped around some hard rubber tubing (one of our members found a tutorial online of how to do it) then linked through a carabiner to an eyebolt in each corner.
3 Likes
We also use eyebolts bolted to the chassis to save weight. We have hooks atatched to aluminum tube that go into those bolts.
So much safer than grabbing somewhere on the chassis or bumpers.
If using hardware store / home center aluminum, be sure to bend it with something that forces a radius; just putting it in a vise and pulling down on the end will weaken the material. You can spend a lot more, but I like this one for strap up to 1/2". It has multiple dies, meaning you can control the diameter and use it for hooks and such as well as corners [fixed link].
https://www.amazon.com/Eastwood-Forming-Construction-Stainless-Aluminum/dp/B07WCCFN51
1 Like
We’ve used a somewhat similar idea in the past with a piece of rope running through a hollow aluminum tube.
Recently though we’ve just been picking up the robot by the bumper frame.
Whatever handle you end up using, I would reccomend adding some foam to the grip. It helps more than you might think during events when you are constantly picking up your robot.
