[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Andy A.

This is, at it's core, a safety issue. The compressor must be controlled by the Crio so it can be disabled by the FMS, just like every other robot mechanism. A simple commercial solution may well work to put air in the tanks to the right pressure, but it would not be something that could be remotely disabled through the FMS or if the control system loses comms or whatever.

Right idea but a little off in the reasoning.

This is as simple as the inspectors and safety personnel needing to be ensured of safety by the teams.

I as an educated engineer can make several simple systems that will work for off board pnuematics charging, however it becomes incumbent on me to prove this is safe to the event staff. If everyone has a different system how do I as an inspector or safety personnel at the event know that your system is properly designed and tested? How do I know if you're not using my pressure transducer that you aren't overpressuring your system?

It is easier for FIRST to legislate the design of the system so that they know it is safe because the design is tested and proven.

Also when you consider off board compressors please think about this, Do you want to be sweatting a slow leak in the system when you're queued on the field through opening ceremonies or a long Dean speach? You may regret this decision...