[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by JB987

Eric,
Doesn't look like T25 allows us to bring "special equipment" to retrieve our minibots from the pole:
<T25> The only equipment that may be brought on to the ARENA is the OPERATOR CONSOLE,
reasonable decorative items, and special clothing and/or equipment required due to a
disability. Other items, particularly those intended to provide a competitive advantage for
the TEAM, are prohibited.
Granted, I don't see what competitive advantage a pole to retrieve a robot provides

Our team and many others last year used special "tools" to get our robots down once they hung. We had two fairly large "U" shaped hooks that we would slide into our hooks to release our robot. This was never questioned by anyone, and we actually receieved many compliments for thinking ahead and creating the tools.

Obviously the standard disclaimer of "last year's rules don't apply to this year" also fits here, but that is just an anecdote of a similar situation from previous games.


Personally, I think having a team bring some kind of device to get it down that the mini bot and device are both designed to do together is a lot easier to deal with than having to rip down minibots with whatever device FIRST is going to use. Even with an extremely well designed minibot and retrieval method, things can go wrong that may cause your minibot to be stuck.

Sounds to me like the GDC should be asked about this to get some clarification.

-Brando