martin417
14-03-2011, 10:36
Sometimes, rules that are unclear, poorly thought out, or "re-interpreted" have consequences that were not expected or intended, and that go beyod the year they were implemented.
Case in point: Last year, the rules stated that all pneumatic valves had to have an operating pressure of at least (edit) 125 PSI. We found such valves, ordered them ($400.00 cost, 4 week lead time from Japan) and used them on our robot. During the build season, many other teams complained that 125 PSI valves were hard to find, so the GDC decided that as long as the valves didn't fail catastrophically at 125 PSI it would be OK to use them. Too late for us, we had already spent the money and committed to the valves.
all last year we had a leak in our pneumatic system, we never could find it. This year we planned to use the same valves. Again the leak problem. We finally found out that the valves leak a small amount of air to the exhaust port all the time. This is because they are 150 PSI valves that use metal seals instead of compliant seals. We had to ditch the valve and scramble to find something else at the last minute. We ended up with the Festo valves from 2008.
The point of this story is that since we complied with the letter of the rule last year, we ended up at a disadvantage to teams that waited until the rule was changed. We wasted $400.00 on valves that we won't be able to use. we lost several matches we would have won except that a long field delay allowed out pre-charge to leak out so our autonomous failed.
I know the GDC does the best job it can do to lay out the rules before the season. I understand that sometimes the rules need "tweaking". I just find it frustrating when those changes cost us money or put our team at a disadvantage.:mad:
Case in point: Last year, the rules stated that all pneumatic valves had to have an operating pressure of at least (edit) 125 PSI. We found such valves, ordered them ($400.00 cost, 4 week lead time from Japan) and used them on our robot. During the build season, many other teams complained that 125 PSI valves were hard to find, so the GDC decided that as long as the valves didn't fail catastrophically at 125 PSI it would be OK to use them. Too late for us, we had already spent the money and committed to the valves.
all last year we had a leak in our pneumatic system, we never could find it. This year we planned to use the same valves. Again the leak problem. We finally found out that the valves leak a small amount of air to the exhaust port all the time. This is because they are 150 PSI valves that use metal seals instead of compliant seals. We had to ditch the valve and scramble to find something else at the last minute. We ended up with the Festo valves from 2008.
The point of this story is that since we complied with the letter of the rule last year, we ended up at a disadvantage to teams that waited until the rule was changed. We wasted $400.00 on valves that we won't be able to use. we lost several matches we would have won except that a long field delay allowed out pre-charge to leak out so our autonomous failed.
I know the GDC does the best job it can do to lay out the rules before the season. I understand that sometimes the rules need "tweaking". I just find it frustrating when those changes cost us money or put our team at a disadvantage.:mad: