Timesaving edit: Yes they are. See example 5 and example 6 given in section 4.1:
Quote:
EXAMPLE 5: A team has a COTS single-board processor version 1.0, which can no longer be purchased. Only the COTS single-board processor version 2.0
may be purchased. If the COTS single-board processor version 1.0 is functionally equivalent to its original condition, it may be used.
EXAMPLE 6: A team has a COTS gearbox which has been discontinued. If the COTS gearbox is functionally equivalent to its original condition, it may be used
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Original Post
Our team, like many that have been around since 2009, has a large pile of the slick plastic wheels from Lunacy (and from KoPs since). Currently, our prototype robot is sporting a pair of slick hard plastic wheels on the back.
As we look towards building our competition robot, we realized that the Lunacy-style wheels aren't COTS parts anymore - we cannot find anywhere selling them. So since they were manufactured before build season and aren't fairly available to every team, it seems like R12 would ban them.
So before I file a Q&A thread about it, does anyone have any thoughts (and rule citings) on why they definitely are or are not allowed? We'd hate to go with Lunacy wheels and then discover at inspection that they'd be considered non-COTS parts made before kickoff and thus illegal.