im curious about the details of this "voltage difference". It shouldn't be hard to make a level shiter to make the new EDU-bot compatible with the old RC/edubot.

Did you mean Shifter? Because an unlevel shiter might be very messy.

...a Freudian slip of the fingers if I ever saw 1 :D

Well, this just makes the 2 VIC884's, spare circuit panel, circuits, wheels, sprockets, chain, pneumatics leftover from last year pop out of the closet. We'll probably end up building a little 2 wheel bot with one piston to grab stuff...
You can get an FM 4 channel controller with 2x2 axis and 1 switch pretty cheap here:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXCUM2**&P=0

Anyway, this completely scraps the idea of an edubot competition for us this year. It would be quite impossible to try and easily control all the radio waves floating around. We can't control each team's preference of controllers, and their is no team ID on the eduBot. Plus, I'm going to have enough fun building a pre-season bot w/ last years parts!

That radio is declared as being for aircraft use only. In the other threads we talk about the issue. The Futaba Attack would be a safer choice since it is on the 27mHz band. As for the idea of a competition, the use of RC equipment does not scrap the idea, it would just make it a little more difficult. RC race tracks and flying fields do it effectively every day. They usually have frequency "clips" or "pins" and everyone has to have one for their channel in their possesion before they may turn on their radio. This is stricly on the honor system though. As is the start of the race, however, drivers are DQed for an early start.

Even though the use RC equipment relies heavlily on the honor system in competition, you shouldn't have any problems with the immense gracious professionalism of FIRSTers.