[Racer26]

This is one of those rules I've always thought was silly. As long as teams are using the proper safety mechanisms, why does the ROBOT battery have to power the off-board compressor.

I've always seen nearly every team with an off-board compressor charge their system, THEN change the battery immediately before the MATCH.

1075 built a robotic cart years ago (it hasn't been used this year, due to malfunctions we haven't had time to fix). It runs an IFI control system, just like our 2000-2008 robots did, (its actually running the system from our 2004 or 2006 robot), uses Black Jaguars to control its drive motors (they're 24VDC motors), and has a separate 12V system to power the control system, and various 12V components, including lights, music, horns, etc (yes, we know musical carts in pits is a no-no, so we generally don't use it at official competitions). We also built a compressor onto the cart, with all the proper interlocks (pressure switch shutoff, etc) but in recent years have not been allowed to use it to pressurize the robot. (We've still used it for blowing metal filings away, and blowing up trackballs)

It gives absolutely zero competitive advantage, and I don't understand why we're not allowed to use it, since its equally safe.