Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Schuetze
Having been at this since 2001, I recall strict limits in the distant past of max four storage tanks and four or five cylinders with stroke length limits of 24 inches.
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In the even-more-distant-past, the 2000 KOP contained a 1.5 gal
U.S. air tank, and the 1999 KOP had some sort of long, thin air reservoir. But you're right: for several years, only 4 or fewer Clippard AVT-32-16s were allowed.
This year, there are no air volume limits (other than presumably the robot volume limits...).
Quote:
Originally Posted by JesseK
Consider that the tanks were supposed to be filled by the competition battery each match, and that tanks do not fill instantaneously (some teams took 7+ minutes to fill). This may not seem like a big deal, but it's definitely something to panic about when you've just let the air out and you have 5 minutes to be on the field.
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I still hate this rule. It's trivial to exploit (legally, via spare
1 batteries, compressors, tanks and fittings), and adds negative value to the system (same inherent safety hazards, but with more points of failure exposed by repeated connections and disconnections).
FIRST should allow teams to draw pre-charge air from any appropriately regulated device connected to the robot's on-board high-pressure pneumatic circuit (mandated to contain an overpressure relief valve and be constructed of appropriately rated components). But they don't.
1 Spares aren't defined this year. But presumably they're allowed, and not subject to the module rule. Because if not, all hell breaks loose.