I’ve checked the manual and there is nothing explicitly against this, however this is less of a “is this against the rules?” question and more of a “how will this work with inspections?” question.
To fit inside the max dimensions, my robot begins with it’s intake balanced vertically. Then at the start of autonomous, the intake spins which causes it to fall down to where it is usable. The robot is over 18" long when the intake is down.
It is very precariously balanced up there, so slight movements of the robot or a tap would cause it to fall down. However, I have left it undisturbed for hours and it maintains that position.
During the size inspection of the robot, would judges/officials allow me to rebalance the intake vertically if they accidentally cause it to fall?
I’ve attached pictures of the robot so you can see what I mean.
I can’t remember/find the exact post, but someone a little bit ago had a good solution. They used zip ties, except tied in the wrong direction/upside down (where they can still slip in and out), on the robot during inspection; when the mechanism expanded, the zip ties simply fell off (though you have to keep them attached via something else as per G6). You can try do do this, and maybe hit the wall/matchload bar to detach the zip tie and make your intake fall forward.
As an inspector, I would have you show me that if fits the dimensions in the starting configuration, and would likely make a note to the head ref to ensure they’re just keeping an overall eye on the robot for those matches to make sure it’s in a legal starting configuration. As long as the height is within dimension in the starting configuration, I wouldn’t see this as an issue.
Had something similar on my robot, but for a balance elevation. It was the same idea where the movement of the robot would cause it to fall into place after the match start. At a competition today I was not told that there was anything wrong with that during inspection, like @EngineerMike said, just make sure it’s in the right position for the start of the match
as a team member who just fininshed a competition with this exact same issue, we we passed inspection. yes, you can adjust the intake so it is vertical. i wouldn’t recommend having to balance the intake, i would add standoffs with a shaft collar in a shape of an upside-down L so the intake has something to rest on without falling. a simpler way would be adding a long c-channel from one side of a bot to the other to act as a stopper for the intake.
I can’t think of a reason than an inspector wouldn’t pass if it was properly balanced and stayed that way.
One solution that I have seen: Teams in our are have been hooking a rubber band around a screw in a shaft collar to hold the intake upright. The moment the axle spins, it lets go of the rubber band and the intake falls.
