Chief Delphi - Rookie Question

The rules from last year are located at http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/doc_updt.htm, for now. When next years game comes out the new rules will likely go there.

As for your specific questions, the rules change every year so the answers you get now may or may not be correct for 2005.

Quote:

11.2.1 Crate Specifications
All Crates must:
• Weigh 400 pounds or less in order to avoid drayage overage charges
• Be sturdily built to prevent damage to your equipment
• "Sit" on 2 pieces of 4" by 4" lumber, spaced at least 28" apart so it can be moved by a forklift
• Have a footprint no greater than 4' by 4' and be no taller than 5'10" (70") high. This maximum
includes the 4" by 4" lumber mentioned above.
• NEW – Be capable of being moved by a forklift
• NEW - Must be banded or shrink-wrapped

Quote:

<R71> Additional electronic components for use on the robot must be currently available from or equivalent to those available from Newark InOne (http://www.newarkinone.com), Future Active (http://www.futureactive.com), Radio Shack (http://www.radioshack.com) or Digi-Key Corporation(http://www.digikey.com). Additional electronic components include any object that conducts electricity other than IFI relays and voltage controllers, wires, connectors and solder. The total catalogue value of additional electronic components must not exceed $300.00 USD. This cost is counted as part of the $3,500 limit. No single electronic component shall have a catalog value of over $100.00 USD.

<R75> The total cost of all non-Kit items may not exceed $3,500.00 USD. No individual item may exceed $400.00. Non-functional decorations are exempt from this rule. The total cost of components purchased in bulk may exceed $ 400 USD as long as the cost an individual component does not exceed $400. Items such as fasteners, adhesives, lubricants, etc. are also exempt from the cost calculation, unless any one component exceeds $1.00.

Quote:

5.3.2.2 Cost Determination
The "cost" of each additional item is counted as follows:
• The purchase price of a non-custom built item offered for sale by a vendor to a general customer base.
• The total cost (materials + labor) of an item you pay someone else to make; Example: A team orders a custom bracket fabricated by a vendor to the team's specification. The vendor's material cost and normally charged labor rate apply.
• The fair market value of an item obtained at a discount or as a donation; Fair market value is that price at which the item would be normally offered by the supplier to any party. Also considered to be "fair market value" are the discounted prices offered to all teams by those suppliers who have
established them for FIRST. Example: The special price discounts MSC Industrial Supply Co., Newark InOne, and Terminal Supply Co. are offering to all FIRST teams.
• The cost of raw material obtained by a team + the cost of non-team labor expended to have the material processed further. Team member processing labor is not included. Example: A team purchases steel bar stock for $10.00 and has it machined by a local machine shop that donates its 2 hours of expended labor. The team must include the estimated normal cost of the labor as if it were paid to the machine shop, and add it to the $10.00. Exception Examples: If the team members themselves did the actual machining, there would be no associated labor cost. If the machine shop
were part of the team, its labor cost would not apply.
• The cost of items purchased in bulk or large quantities may be prorated on the basis of their actual use on the robot. Example: A team purchases a 4' x 4' sheet of aluminum, but only uses 30 square inches of it on their robot. The cost that the team would have to report would be 30 divided by 2304 times the actual cost of the whole sheet.
• Shipping costs of Non-Kit items are not counted.
• Parts that teams had to buy to replace kit parts not received need not be accounted for, i.e., should not be charged against the $3,500 robot limit.

Wetzel