Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

can we stick the green bulbs(the ones in the kit of parts) under our robot and still be legal?

we are useing 80/20 so the bulb would NOT be visable to other robots, but would make a cool green glow under our robot.

would we be called on this or what?

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

Honestly... Do you really think that it would be illegal to put something on your robot that might screw with the camera of other robots? And you say it won't mess with the other robots, but if you can see it, then the camera can...

Also...do a search and you will find this question asked many, many times.

And, in case you are having issues with the first statment...it is MOST definitely illegal.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

Your green glow would be visible to other robots, and your cathodes would be visible if your robot tipped over. Therefore, I would assume that it violates R31

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

Expanding on what ahecht said, I believe you would be in violation of R31

Now, I suppose if you really wanted to read into that, you could say, "But we aren't intending to mess with the other robots!!" Still, you'd be in violation of R102

On the chance that a camera could see the green light, and could track that, which could screw up the operation of it's vision system ... I'm going to say steer clear of the green bulbs.

If you're really set on the "coolness" factor of the underside of your robot glowing, I'd pick a completely different color and do sme testing with your own vision camera, first, to make sure it won't interfere during a match.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

At St. Louis we saw a couple of robots with undercarriage lighting using this type of tube. One team had already decided to disable the lights because they might affect the outcome of a match, and the other was using lights that were not green -- their lights were programmed to change to match their alliance color. We allowed this decorative light at inspection but told the team that if a field official determined that there was any interference, the lights would have to be disabled.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

You won't sneak this past inspections at finals for sure.

885 decided to use the bulbs in the robot cart, along with many other lighting effects and such. It came out well, considering the team color is neon green.

And the lights are turned off when the cart is near the field, just in case.

-Andy A.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

someone already submitted this question Here on the Q&A

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

One of my teams drivers had a green glow stick around his neck and was told by the refs to take it off because it might cause a robot to track to him. ;)

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

So use another color. You'll find neons in the ricer section at your local Auto Zone.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

In testing, we found that the camera will track a glowstick for about the first 30 seconds after the stick has been activated. Past that point, it becomes slightly duller and we could no longer get the camera to follow it.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

In addition to that already presented, the chance of breaking one or more of the tubes during a match is astronomical. Although the risk is low, the tubes do contain some nasty material and we shouldn't be exposing participants and field personnel to that inhalation risk. I will have to think about it but I might rule it OK for you to make them removable before match play if you just want to make the robot look nice when not doing anything.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

As is often said, if you have any doubt, don't do it.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

We don't have a camera :rolleyes:

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

Did you get one in the kit? If so, set it up. If not, ask another local team to help you.

Re: Is this legal? cause its cool!
 

They come standard in the kit of parts (both this year's and last year's), so you should have gotten one at some point. If not, I'd do what Eric suggested and partner up with another team from your area - I'm sure they'd help you out! :)