Just as long as the robot is safe it is ok as I’ve posted already.
the only case where a drone could be used in comp. would be to put a container around the arena like in battlebots. otherwise saying that it will never happen because vex wont put the time into manufactureing a plastic dome for 1000+ teams around the world.
It’s the risk that’s the problem. Any head ref would disqualify a flying competitive robot, because even if the robot has been tested, there’s no telling what would happen. What might happen if one of your propellers moving at 20,000 RPM runs into a tower or a robot would probably be a nightmare Freddy Kruger would send me.
I get that propellers are way to dangerous for a vex competition environment, but what if we just made a robot that flaps really hard?
I really like this idea. Perhaps “wings” on 4 sides, making it able to move in different directions.
What if we build X Aerial Screw by Leonardo Da Vinci. It would work if we used some non skid and a gear ratio.
The real rule against flying robots is G3:
Use common sense. When reading and applying the various rules in this document, please
remember that common sense always applies in the VEX Robotics Competition.
Who in their right [redacted] mind would actually try and build a competitive robot to fly? There would be a low chance of it happening, and an even lower chance of it even passing inspection. And after that you would have to figure out how to even play the game.
Once the miracle happens where you get your robot to fly, controlling it would probably be very difficult to do safely as well. The Phone Drone Scam video by Mark Rober does a pretty good job covering that, so if you’re interested enough I suggest you go watch it. You would basically need a crazy precise PID controller utilizing a gyroscope and accelerometer, and you would have to do it completely from scratch. If you don’t want to watch the video, let’s just say you would lose all control over your drone (assuming it somehow works) in less than two seconds if you tried to steer it around.
Blimp!
With no expansion limit in Tower Takeover, we got to do Blimp!
You could store helium or hydrogen in the pneumatic tanks. Then inflate it at the beginning of the game.
It will take like until February to build light inflatable hull. Then we will still have a week to think about the game strategy before the regionals.
And I thought that water game was a meme…
US Navy blimp in the air…
ummm so what you all are saying is make a plexiglass container, fill it with helium, and do what??? blimps are mostly for advertising not picking up ups boxes.
I agree, especially since your robot will weigh at least 5 pounds with all the gearing and components. Since your drone isn’t advanced enough, it is more likely than not that a small tap or gust will send your drone spiralling out of control
As someone who has reffed a few competitions, a blimp is the only flying robot that I would pass in inspection. Provided it is Helium. Hydrogen is dangerous. But, to my knowledge, pneumatics can be whatever gas.
I believe it has been specified in the past that pneumatics must be pressurized with “standard earth air” or something to that effect.
I’m no physicist, but to rise, something must fall. Unless you drop your reservoir once it is empty (illegal) you aren’t getting off the ground.
the air falls, if you increase volume without increasing mass, which is what happens with a Roblimp^TM, than it will rise because of buoyancy.
Can someone move this to chit-chat or rumor mill?
you could leave the pneumatic cylinder on the ground, tethered to the blimp above, as well as the brain, and battery for weight reduction. new meta, stacking bot tethered to a tower scoring blimp? 4 motor drive, 1 motor intake, 1 motor lift, 1 motor blimp propeller, 1 motor tether cable car to transport cubes from the floor to the blimp.
A cable car. Now that is an idea.