My team is trying to decide between creating a flip-up 3rd stage or a Cascading 3rd Stage design. Currently, North Carolina (where we’re from) isn’t too deep into comp season yet so most designs are still pretty basic and have yet to improve, so we haven’t seen any good working third stage yet, other than on YouTube. What are y’all opinions on which one is better?
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If you plan on sticking with the robot design for a long time, you should invest in a flip-up 3rd stage so you can cascade off that later. If you plan on rebuilding within the next month or two, make a cascade as it is much easier to implement.
tl;dr flip for long term because you can cascade from that later, cascade-only if it’s temporary
we Plan to stick to our design for a while but we’re not sure if it’s going to be necessary to get a 4 stage tray since at least in NC, just having 2 stage trays makes you extremely competitive. It’s really a question of which has more benefits over the other for us
@33011XAmb TBH it depends on how much space you have, and your future plans. Cascades are difficult to implement with only half an inch or so of space, and flip out will probably be better. If you have the space, do the cascade as it helps with preventing tipping. Also if you have future plans, do the flip-out because as mentioned by @Terrel_T, it will be easier to implement. Hope this helps!
I just read your new post, and my recommendation is if 2 makes you competitive, then go 3, etc. This will keep you ahead of “the game”. Moreover, opponents will know your name, which is beneficial for states.
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IMO it depends on what type of robot role you wish to accomplish: Do you want to be a fast and efficient scorer (8 - 9 cubes) to leave time for defensive play and tower contesting or do you want to focus entirely on stacking with a large tray (10 -11+ cubes) and rely on your alliance partner to contest towers?
If a 2 stage is considered extremely competitive, then build a 3 stage. Even if most cubes fall out before you reach capacity, you should still go with it, as it will give you a slight edge, or even potentially dominate your local competitions.
Well, not to come off as arrogant, but I’d say that we’re one of the more competitive teams in the state already. Generally in matches, we tend to have bad luck with alliances and most of our matches end up turning into 2 vs. 1 matches and we can easily get at least 2 stacks ourselves while giving us a solid 30 sec to focus on towers. The main reason why we want to add the third stage is for say finals matches where we go up against other strong teams and also skills. We’ve seen other teams try to add small third stages (like an extra cube) but almost none that have worked successfully, with the only one we’ve seen barely using their entire tray. Our main goal is to be more competitive but we also don’t want to unbalance our robot by adding something extra to it, if you get what I mean. That’s why I’m debating adding a flip-up or, as I have now learned it’s called, a telescoping tray.
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both options are viable, I’d say that a flipout is easier, and usually allows holding one more cube than a cascading stage does. for example, a three stage flipout tray at maximum length holds 10 cubes, while a 2 stage flipout with one stage cascade can only hold 9. but, a cascade is better for center of gravity, and gives you better mobility and easier deploy at the start of the match, so its really just preference.
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does anyone have video of a demo of a third stage flip out?
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Unfortunately not enough to fit in 18 though. We had to take the third stage off at our first competition.
Oh, by far back I meant that the angle adjuster brought the tray very near parallel to the ground, forgive my wording. But now that you mention it, it is a large tray!
I meant 18." It held 9 cubes when the third stage was still attached.
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Oh sorry, that is my misunderstanding. I was actually pretty confused as to how that would have held 18 cubes, and was skeptical of its effectiveness. However, I decided to believe it, and give you the benefit of the doubt.
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Here is my old three stage flipout, it just uses the rollers to push out the tray. Only works if you can keep the bot small enough that the rollers start in size, though.