Kop servo continous rotation modification allowed?

[Gdeaver]

Does anybody remember First ruling on modifying a Hitec servo for continuous rotation? The answer is probably no, but Did First ever officially rule on it?

[KenWittlief]

I always try to answer these questions logically.

the motors cannot be modified because that would give some teams a big advantage in robot torque or speed.

The controllers and victors and spikes cannot be modified because that would create a possible fire or safety hazard

but the servos? They are not considered motors because you can buy more and use as many as you want. There is no safety or fire hazard if you screw one up when you mod it

so logically, I would think it would be ok to modify a servo.

As alway, FIRST has the final say, and some of the rules they have this year are not logical, so I would have your team post the question on the official Q&A forum (and start modifying one now, so you will be ready to go if they say yes).

BTW: I searched CD and cannot find an answer from previous years either way, but there are instructions on how to modify servos in some older threads.

[Joe Johnson]

I would suppose that servos qualify as a "motor." Since there is not specific rule allowing them to be modified in this way or saying that their gearbox is "non-integral" I think that such modifications would be deemed illegal.

But, of course, this is just my educated guess based on past rule. As others have said, FIRST Q&A is the only real way to get this answered 100%.

Joe J.

[Joe Ross]

I would suppose that servos qualify as a "motor." Since there is not specific rule allowing them to be modified in this way or saying that their gearbox is "non-integral" I think that such modifications would be deemed illegal.

That has been the ruling in previous years through Q/A, which doesn't necessarily apply to this year as Dave Lavery quite often points out.

[Stephen Kowski]

are there any team leaders out there that can post this question on the Q&A forum?