After seeing all the triple balances this weekend, I remembered a small robot I helped a rookie team (2250) design and build in 2007. It’s purpose was to climb any robot ramp that year. Here’s a video…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtD8vP7v3nY&feature=plcp&context=C4a6f2e2VDvjVQa1PpcFOpoijN_8BYoYVTPdoXFiZaP-bwefWlfnk%3D. It was affectionately known as ’ mini me’ and the rookie team was the 8th seed at the Colorado Regional that year. If you built a similar bot this year it could easily ‘sandwich’ between two other bots making a triple balance easy. You could easily fabricate a chassis and integral bumpers that would weigh less than 30 lbs. Together with a minimum of COTS components you could easily fabricate and drive a robot like this on the Thursday of a regional. You might also do well with this bot balancing on the coopertition bridge during qualifying matches. Then in elimination rounds with the right other two bots you could easily help make 40 plus scores a probability.
or you could be team 956 and do it from the start 
I don’t recall there being any ramps in the 2007 game (Rack n Roll, right??)
Anyway, I saw a few “flat-bots” in the San Diego regional, but most were by rookie teams who just wanted to get their bot our there, and were generally full horizontal area which wouldn’t help with balancing much.
The end game of 2007 was to lift up your alliance partners on ramps.
Since it’s related, I’ll go ahead and post an idea I had here, I’m not sure if it’s been done already.
We know from the piggy-back bots that you can intrude into your alliance partners’ frame perimeters when you’re on the bridge, so make a robot that “sandwiches” in the middle like this, but have drop-down catches that grab onto both other robots, preventing the end robots from falling off. This would require some decent pre-meditated coordination with alliance partners to ensure proper attachment points, but it seems like it could be useful in elims.
We tried to implement this idea over lunch on Saturday at the Pittsburgh Regional but ran out of time. If one thought ahead and was able to spend more than the hour that we had, though, it seems entirely do-able.
I was misled by this thread, hoping that it was about a robot that could make me a sandwich.
2013 game maybe…
And the end game could be to deliver it with a refreshing beverage.
Points are deducted for not making healthy choices “Aw they should have went with the tomato and basil wrap instead of the traditional white bun. That’s a 20 point deduction. Too bad.”
But if you can carry multiple drinks, without spilling them, you get bonus points.
It’s always fun til someone gets a soda to the CRIO.
Ooh! Can we get salsa too? I hear that Victors love spreading salsa with their fans!
Thread derail: great success!
Healthy choices are fine but even more points for bacon and toasting it is worth even more.
Back on topic
A little robot like this would make a great alliance partner if it also had the ability to play defense or intercept balls from your opponents inbounders.
Basically don’t make it to short, something light weight on top that can block cameras and balls.
water game?
I knew that would happen.
Automatic WIN.
Oink, Oink …
BOOM!
Would it be legal for me to build a tiny 30-lb robot designed to take up the absolute minimum space on the bridge and give it to a team to have inspected and use as their bot, provided that they weren’t withholding anything else? I can think of some creative ways to cram all necessary components into an 8-inch wide space…
You’d have a maxi-minibot then?