[EricH]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

What would be the difference between this and simply placing a switch that will send forward or reverse voltage to the motor from the robot battery? I don't see how this would be illegal but a separate battery and switch would be.

That whole thing about NOT altering the power pathways, maybe?

Honestly I don't understand why it is a problem to have manual control that is inaccessible unless purposefully controlled for safe travel from the field. I don't know why there can't be a blue box allowance of some sort to R54 to allow for safe transport. I think an inspector could judge whether a manual switch would pose a hazard or not. Think of a goalie robot with a ten foot arm extended going through a door to get to the pits...

Some items already have manual control. Pneumatic solenoids, for example. But another thing is that the Manual does not have all of the constraints for any given robot. There is an explicit constraint that robots need to be transported onto and off of the field--but the "easily" part is rather implicit, and is something that the teams need to design for.

Once the robot is off the field and on its cart, and somewhat out of the way, there should be no issue with tethering up quickly, enabling the robot, and bringing the problematic part, whatever it is, in for transport to the pits with power off (or on, if you so choose).