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Originally Posted by PAR_WIG1350
As long as they don't change their minds after competing with the ramp, the change from stinger to ramp would be counted as a modification, not a second configuration. If they did want to be able to play their first match with a stinger, their second with the ramp, and the third with the stinger again, then they would have to comply with the multiple configurations rule.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by [R03]
When determining weight, the basic Robot structure and all elements of all additional Mechanisms that might be used in different configurations of the Robot shall be weighed together.
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That's one valid interpretation, however it's also plausible that [R03] applies as soon as the team forms the intent to bring a second mechanism.
1 This issue has been discussed among inspectors in the past (and possibly at the GDC level), but I don't know of any such discussion this year.
In that situation, I'd like to give the team the benefit of the doubt with the most lenient interpretation consistent with the rule, but I'm not entirely convinced that the modification vs. module dichotomy can be stretched that far. There's a continuum between a modification entirely conceived and built from raw materials at the event, and a prefabricated module; how do we decide where to draw the line? The rule doesn't really give any guidance.
I'm inclined to think that if the team intended the part to be used on the robot as a replaceable module, and prepared it in advance, it was their obligation to understand that [R03] might be applicable, and plan accordingly.
For modifications undertaken from materials gathered at the event (which were unlikely to have been originally intended as robot parts),
I've previously ruled that they were legal, provided the modification wasn't going to be reversed at the event. (The status of the modifications/modules at subsequent events would depend on what the team did and intended to do with them.)
1 I mention that because of course a strict reading of that rule makes no sense—just about anything could be added to a robot, but it's not practical to weigh it all.