Quote:
Originally posted by Jim Harbison
We used the rectangular AL for our frame and installed sealed (rtv) bulkheads fastened with rivnuts then put ports where we want them in the frame and use the frame as a storage tank. Might freak the other teams out cause it so creative.But thats what robotics is all about.
Keep creating.
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That is explicitly against the rules. If you did it in prior years, you are lucky that you got away with it. Whoever inspected your robot at the competition slipped up. You might not like it stated this way, but consciously or not, you were cheating.
The applicable rule last year was Rule M13. It explicitly stated that custom built pneumatic components were prohibited.
This year, the applicable rule is unchanged. Rule M12 states:
Only items listed under the PNEUMATICS section of the Kit list may be used to
STORE, generate or transmit compressed air or vacuum, with the following exceptions:
- Suction cups may be fabricated from legal Kit parts, as defined in rule K1 below,
- Tubing may be compressed in order to block the flow of air,
- Tubing may
not be compressed in order to generate compressed air or vacuum,
- Only the allowed air cylinders may be used to generate vacuum
Yes, the practice of sealing bulkheads into aluminum tubing and storing compressed air in them will "freak the other teams out" - but not because you are being creative. They will react, and appropriately so, because you are violating the rules that they are obeying.