Quote:
Originally Posted by martin417
I think you are reading way too much into this. If I bought a 20' piece of 1" angle last year, and cut 1 foot of off of it to make a robot part, then by your definition, the other 19' would be off limits for this year.
|
I never said that; I was talking about the parts taken off of a robot. There's nothing wrong with using left-overs from whatever raw materials you had from wherever or whenever. Those aren't fabricated items, but the part you cut off to use on a robot is. I'm pretty sure I remember a Q&A or rule somewhere that says it's OK to cut raw materials in order to be able to transport them, but that may have been some previous year. I sure hope that still applies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by martin417
Also by your definition, if I had a piece of 8020 that was 24" long on my last years robot, that I then disassembled and put in the parts bin, I couldn't cut a 9" piece off of it and use it this years bot.
|
That's an interesting one. By definition, your 24" piece from last year is a fabricated part. Cutting 9" off of it doesn't seem to be an issue (you're using the old stock as a raw material that happens to be 24" long, I think),
if that 9" is unmodified (although I could be wrong). But if, for example, it has mounting holes drilled in the 9" section, then it is a fabricated part (by definition) and isn't allowed on this year's robot. The first sentence in the blue box under R13:
Quote:
|
Please note that this means that FABRICATED ITEMS from ROBOTS entered in previous FIRST competitions may not be used on ROBOTS in the 2014 FRC.
|
Also see the Q&A; Q102.
Quote:
Originally Posted by martin417
Pardon my bluntness, but that is the most ridiculous interpretation of the rules I have yet seen.
|
OK. You're entitled to your opinion, of course; obviously I disagree. Show me the rule that says I'm wrong. And I'm sure if you think a bit you can find that you've seen more ridiculous things in FRC; I know I have.
Quote:
Originally Posted by martin417
Many of the components of every robot I have been associated with were made from scrap parts and pieces of material from the company where I work. They had been previously cut, drilled or otherwise modified to be a part of something else. After the team further cut, shaped and modified them, they became robot parts. In the following years, as long as the part is modified from its condition as used in the previous robot, it is legal for this years robot.
|
I would hope that scrap pieces from somewhere besides a robot could be treated as raw materials, as long as the "scrap" isn't some kind of assembly used as a unit that isn't available as a COTS part for everyone else. Remember, I was specifically talking about parts taken off previous years' robots. I'm not sure that further modification from a fabrication makes something legal or not; sounds like a good Q&A. I think re-using mounting holes drilled last year might make it illegal. Likewise a shape (say you drilled new mounting holes in a cam you made last year) that was created in a previous year may not be legal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by martin417
There is no rule that describes "raw material" as brand new, never cut or modified material. If I use a piece of 1" angle, and apply manufacturing processes to it to make it a part of my robot, its history has no bearing on its legality as a robot part. There is no magic that is imbued into the metal when it is made into a robot part. I get no advantage from using that part unless I use it in the same exact configuration as it was used in a previous robot.
|
The history of a part *can* have bearing on its legality as a robot part; see my citations above. And yes you do get an advantage. You don't have to spend the time to fabricate the part, and because you built it in a previous year you violate the build season schedule.