Quote:
Originally Posted by s_forbes
This rule has always bugged me a little bit. Most rules are designed to constrain what you're allowed to do during a match. This one tries to set a lower limit on what you must be able to do. I would think that a simple passive slide that moves totes from the loading station to the near platform would fit the intent of the game, but fails according to R1. Regardless of the year, it doesn't seem that having a completely passive mechanism gives an unfair advantage or breaks the game, so what's the point of R1?
As far as ramps go, I expect to see a plethora of them at champs this year.
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Hey Steve...It says movement (nothing about driving at all), have you not seen our amazing Israeli friends bot (sry, I don't have the Team # handy right now, Team name starts w/ an "H"...Hassam something I believe, my sincere apologies to the team), but it is a conveyer belt from HP station to the closest Scoring Platform, and a killer stacker there, w/ mini bot RC Collector delivering the RC's to the stacker too on the other side, a real fast tight 6 stacker RC capper and solid wall creator, now w/ litter fed from the floor or litter chute into the RC's via the mini bot. A real gem of a robot (it appears to possibly give 148, 1114, 254 and many others a possible real run for the money too), and the only part that actually drives is the minibot...But tons of other movement is involved in that true unbelievable Rube Goldberg Contraption. As they build stacks, they push the previous stacks completed down the scoring platform...actual solid wall like.
I guess the point is that it is a robot competition...Build a robot and you can compete, build nothing, you cannot compete. R1 is just the basic minimums to be able to compete. Anyone (who tries at least), can build a basic robot that satisfies R1 w/ just the basic kit bot pcs. and a minimal bit more expended on parts to accomplish those minimal items listed in R1.
Some can build miraculous ones also w/ a bit more effort, money, time, energy, and ideas. NHRA won't let you competitive drag race without an automobile, truck, or motorcycle....Try to enter foot racing or on a pedal powered bike....Nope.
(Though I once won a bike doing so, and the 2 of us that won the bikes were allowed...no, actually required (for the Popular Hotrodding Mag photos), to race once w/ the bikes through the 1/4...exceptions to every rule I guess...But, the race was over at that point also).
I won....I was young, he was old & slow...Though, he certainly had more insurance! And drove a much faster car. And we were racing heads up. If it was a bracket race we would have had to write our dial-in's on our chests in shoe polish. (Nowhere on the bikes to put the E.T. Dial in).
