Has anyone come up with an idea for flipping crates that are upside down at the middle of the field?
My team is considering that stacking upside down totes will be better for stacking stability with the top of the tote serving as a larger base than the bottom. We have a plan for a passive system that ensures that all the totes we grab will be oriented upside-down for stacking, so it may be a good idea to want to have inverted totes.
Nothing in the rules says that the totes can not be stacked upside down. In fact, the larger surface area of the top of the tote would be a better support for a tower. It might be more efficient and faster just to take the upside down ones and stack them how they are.
Use your hand to flip it over. That is one way a mechanism can be used to flip them over.
The only problem with upside down crates it they might be harder to pick up if you go with anything but a forklift. I think the best way to flip them is only to lift up half of a crate and let it flip naturally due to gravity. I don’t know of any better way.
Can we stack crates inside of each other and get the full points for stacking another crate?
That would require you to remove the lid, which is not allowed.
Note the zipties holding the lids closed (Section 2.3.1). Also note the penalty for breaking said zipties (G16).
Pay attention to the rules regarding levels in Figure 3-4 and Teleop scoring in Table 3-2. Stacked TOTES don’t have a multiplying effect on each other, but are important if you intend to place a RECYCLING CONTAINER on top.
Also, it might help for you to use the correct terminology of the game elements to avoid confusion. There are TOTES, RECYCLING CONTAINERS, and LITTER. This will help keep everyone on the same page.
Here are the rules (under game manual): http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents