[fox46]

I don't think water is as impractical as it is being made out to be. As far as the motors and battery etc are concerned, they will operate quite happily fully immersed in water (relatively clean water). Water as a matter of fact is non-conductive, rather it is the ions present in the water that account for the conductive nature. However, for driving motors and higher current loads, the power leak through the water is negligable. In fact, I have read several articles stating that the best way to break in one of the mabuchi-style motors is to immerse it in a glass of water and run it at low power for up to an hour. The problem with water and motors is corrosion which would have to be mitigated with sacrificial anodes or chemical inhibitors. The only trickky bit would be the electronics as they are indeed affected by current leak through water. FIRST would have to design and provide a waterproof control system. Something as simple as a waterproof Pelican case fitted with amphenol connectors or thru-case terminal strips would work quite well. An even cheaper solution would be military surplus ammunition boxes (cost about $5 each at surplus outlets) fitted with a lexan window to view the blinking lights and thru-case terminal strips for input/output connections. I know a number of people who have built waterproof cases for camcorders using these boxes. Model RC boats seem to do just fine so why not robots??

As for the venue, I think the only place you will have issues are gymnasiums with hardwood floors. Convention centers and arenas will have no problem dealing with water due to concrete construction and floor drains. Heck- in Toronto they flood an arena 5 feet deep and drive powerboats around towwing wakeboarders for the Toronto Boat Show! I have also attended several events where organizers have set up above-ground pools to hold mock RC warship battles and such. It's not out of the question IMO. Such a field could be filled from any standpipe or fire hose in no time and drained using a portable gasoline utility pump outside into a storm drain.

I do however think that FIRST is too "lazy" to pull something like this off. It is just so much easier for them not to bother.