I am starting this thread to discuss the dangers of elevating other robots.
I will start off this thread with this video:
It’s a video from the BC Season Opener and Qualifier in Canada.
definitely there is a risk to letting someone lift your robot, and I would be skeptical of letting anyone lift my robot unless they had proved to me that their lift works before hand, also, this is an incentive for solid robot construction
I feel like dangers of elevation can be minimized if it is tested before a match and proven to work a few times while talking to your alliances before a match. If the elevation is practiced then there should be a lesser chance of something going wrong. Build quality should also be good if you are trusting another robot to elevate your robot.Elevation is a risky thing to do, but the benefits outweigh the risks in my opinion if risks are minimized.
When the drivers see their robot about to tip over and reach to aid their robot but are unable to touch the robot. Then one of them bumps her head on the ref.
I cri erytiem.
~sad air-horn music plays~
If you are unsure of whether or not it is safe for your robot to be lifted then you shouldn’t take the risk. It is important to go around and test out lifts with your alliances before matches so that you know if you can safely be lifted. We are a very competitive team and will always do whatever it takes to win a match, but I would never allow for my partner driver to drive onto an unsafe lifting mechanism, nor would we drive under a robot that we might knock over.
I would hate to have to watch a robot tip during a competition, especially with or against us.
(;ﾟ︵ﾟ; ) Prior to this match, we communicated with our alliance and tested the lift. Basically all the expected procedures, but we can’t really blame anyone if this happens either. Thankfully, our robot survived the fall without any damage.
It’s funny to see this clip afterwards though.
-2Z
Ouch! That video is horrible.
I would say that some lifts are more susceptible to tipping over or being tipped over.
I myself have tipped robots twice when lifting them. Once was in the lab, when a robot from another subteam fell off. Another was at a tournament this past Saturday, where the robot I lifted in the first match fell off.
I’m kinda surprised that this clip would cause a discussion on this forum. As for elevation, as I see it and like I stated in the description, it’s a relatively high-risk/high-reward strategy. If done right, a high elevation can win an alliance a match if said alliance is short on points and is unable to get enough balls in the high goal by the end of the match. At the same time however, there is the possibility of damaging your robot or your alliance partner’s robot. This strategy will always involve some degree of risk for the alliance as it relies on both teams having a solid design, good coordination and a lot of trust between the two teams but depending on the situation, it can pay off.
Also, good to hear that your robot wasn’t badly damaged after that fall and great job at the BC Season Opener 2Z.
I only attempted elevation twice that tournament. But i want to still make clear that 2R has better weight balance than 2Z, what happened that match was that 2Z started tipping on their own, and leaned onto the alliance partner. This lift design is inherently sketchy but you can get it to be quite stable. 
I agree, although as I said I think some lifting mechanisms will be more susceptible to being damaged or damaging someone else’s robot than others. Obviously a robot on tiny stilts will not fair well when being pushed over. But a robot with a extendable ramp will probably be more tolerant of an error in a driver control ( or design ).