[dcarr]

Originally Posted by DanielDTech

We are aware of the vertical ball retaining issue. This is not the completed unit. Like I said, I only posted the remainder of what needed to be posted so one could know what this is. We still have some design and innovation to do here, and we'll be vigorously working on this until kickoff.

Unfortunately I have to hit the sack because I have to wake up early tomorrow, but I'll back tomorrow to talk about the mechanism...

Make sure that you follow the rules when making your decision to use (or not use) your drivetrain in the 2013 season. With only 40 days to go, it may be pretty difficult to complete a prototype before kickoff. Something to think about.

From the 2012 Manual, section 4.1.4.

R18

Robot elements designed or created before the Kickoff presentation, including software, are not permitted.

Please note that this means that Fabricated items from Robots entered in previous FIRST competitions may not be used on Robots in the 2012 FRC. Before the formal start of the Robot Build Season, teams are encouraged to think as much as they please about their Robots. They may develop prototypes, create proof-of-concept models, and conduct design exercises. Teams may gather all the raw stock materials and COTS Components they want.

Example: A team designs and builds a two-speed shifting transmission during the fall as a training exercise. When designing their competition Robot, they utilize all the design principles they learned. To optimize the transmission design for their Robot, they improve the transmission gear ratios and reduce the size, and build two new transmissions, and place them on the Robot. All parts of this process are permitted activities.

Example: The same team realizes that the transmission designed and built in the fall perfectly fits their need for a transmission to drive the Robot arm. They build an exact copy of the transmission from the original design plans, and bolt it to the Robot. This would be prohibited, as the transmission – although fabricated during the competition season – was built from detailed designs developed prior to Kick-off.

Example: A team developed an omni-directional drive system for the 2011 competition. Over the summer of 2011 they refined and improved the control software (written in C) to add more precision and capabilities. They decided to use a similar system for the 2012 competition. They copied large sections of unmodified code over into the control software of the new Robot (also written in C). This would be a violation of the schedule constraint, and would not be allowed.

Example: The same team decides to use the LabVIEW as their software environment for 2012. Following kickoff, they use the previously-developed C code as a reference for the algorithms and calculations required to implement their omni-directional control solution. Because they developed new LabView code as they ported over their algorithms, this would be permitted.

Example: A different team develops a similar solution during the fall, and plans to use the developed software on their competition Robot. After completing the software, they post it in a generally accessible public forum and make the code available to all teams. Because they have made their software generally available (per the definition of COTS, it is considered COTS software and they can use it on their Robot).