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Originally Posted by cglrcng
IF under R1 (a portion says in part)..."...The ROBOT must include all of the basic systems required to be an active participant in the game –power, communications, control, and movement."
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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?
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I don't believe that the goal of the GDC was ever to eliminate passive
components of robots, especially as an assist to one or more actuators of the "main" robot. Examples would include spring-loaded grippers, passive rollers on elevators and ramps, and all those "ramp-lock" 10-point climbers for Ultimate Ascent which converted robot kinetic energy into potential energy. On the other hand, one of the clear design goals that persists through the years is to allow the referees, through the FMS, to
disable the robot. Otherwise, why the requirement for certification of active MXP devices, among others? If an
active robot function is allowed to continue after the electronics is shut down, this appears to be outside of the GDCs intent, even if they have not put adequate rules in place to make it so.
Honestly, the GDC's (ok, maybe FRC legal's) worst nightmare would be a robot that was entirely spring loaded and ran about the field operating autonomously. They just plain couldn't stop it, even though it was destroying field elements and tossing game pieces at passing volunteers and spectators. Even the GDC has to have a bit of a Frankenstein complex in these litigious days. If you think I'm just getting silly with the possibilities of mechanical robots, look up Heron of Alexandria.