Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

Yet another Fix-It Window question...

And big ups to 386 on this one...

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

Going in goal more than 3" regardless of who caused it... DQ! Drive carefully opponents!


Don't ram someone at high speed or excessively in automode!

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

It'll probably be deleted, but I caught this spam:

[quote] Hello from Publidirecta (Spain)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good afternoon, we are a Spanish company called Publidirecta, dedicated to different services.

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

Mind removing the link? If not it's as bad as they are (improves their search engine results when sites link to them)

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

This is not specified in the rules. I looked it up right after UTC because I saw Alliance Captains not on the drive team. Some teams will have to make some changes.

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

Andy,

If by "not specified in the rules" you mean "these words do not exist in the rules", then I agree.

I'm not sure what FIRST is doing here... It looks like they are referencing a different rule book than we have.

We have always selected our alliance captain from outside of the drive team.

We will make changes if and when the rules change.

Mike

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

No, they aren't. Make sure you aren't mentally inserting rules that do not exist when you read the answer.

No where in the rules does it say that the DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER or COACH positions have to be filled by the same person throughout the entire competition. Teams can swap out these positions throughout the competition. All teams have to do is pass the DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER or COACH button to whatever person on the team that you want as your representative, and away you go. For the 30 minutes it takes to complete the alliance selections, any student on the team can be assigned as COACH (or whatever), and then they pass the position and the button off to someone else. That way, the team can have whoever they want as the representative during alliance selections (as long as it is a student), then have whoever they want as the members of the drive team during the matches.

They way this answer was worded, and particularly when examined in the context of the wording of the original question, seems to indicate that FIRST was adressing a different issue. The wording of the original question can be interpreted as an attempt to make the Alliance Captain a fifth position on the drive team (in addition to the COACH, DRIVERS and HUMAN PLAYER). This answer makes it clear that you can't do that, and that the team is limited to no more than four members of the drive team out on the field (which keeps things consistent with Rule <G31>). I think that they have properly addressed that issue, without restricting which particular individual from the team may be temporarily assigned as the team representative during the alliance selections.

-dave

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

When I saw the alliance captain, the person with the bib, standing in the queing area during their match at UTC , I decided to read the rules again. This what happens when you have been in FIRST for a while, rules change. I can remember when the bib was not allowed to be removed once placed on the alliance captain and had to be with the drive team during matches.

Does the above ruling require the bib to be worn during the match by a member of the drive team? If so, it should be enforced.

In either case, I have my driver be the Captain/Representative. He/she knows what's expected for alliance picking.

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=847

<R59> doesn't seem to be the right rule for disallowing bluetooth on the OI, as it deals with custom circuits on the robot.

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

Section 7.13.1 bans two-way radios, but that's about all that I can see in the rules concerning off-board devices. Like Joe said, it's pretty clear from the rest of the rules that the controls (and things that interface with them) are not covered as custom circuits (see <R57>).

I don't think Bluetooth would be a problem, technically speaking, because it operates at 2.4 GHz (not 900 MHz like the radios) and uses pseudorandom frequency-hopping at 1.6 KHz between 79 channels (as a security measure).

As a practical matter, Bluetooth could be one more manifestation of the unwritten rule that communication from outside the alliance station is not allowed. (The team in question isn't asking to do this, but I'd speculate that FIRST wants to avoid this situation.)

Re: Interesting Q/A's
 

Tubing rules
This response is not quite correct. <R100> allows 2005's tubing (i.e. SMC TIUB07, not Freelin-Wade), cylinders and solenoid valves, subject to the usual limits. Furthermore, <R26> extends this to any "previous year's cylinder, valve, or tubing", despite the apparent discrepancy with <R100>. However, 3/8" tubing, since it has never been in the kit, is clearly illegal.

Previous years' tubing, even of the same size as this year's tubing isn't "identical" to the 2006 tubing. (We don't apply "same ratings" ≈ "identical" to other pneumatic components, so I think that there's a precedent that supports my criticism.)