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Unread 02-04-2015, 13:23
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JVN JVN is offline
@JohnVNeun
AKA: John Vielkind-Neun
FRC #0148 (Robowranglers)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: May 2001
Rookie Year: 2000
Location: Greenville, Tx
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Re: Canburglar Safety

I'd like to address the elephant in the room...
Many teams are now competing quietly, in the background, to build the world's fastest canburglar.

We all know that the guy next of us is trying to go faster. So we go faster. We know that he knows that we know he's trying to go faster... so we go even faster. We know that he also knows this...

We all know the solution at a certain point comes down to energy. How much energy? More. More, and more, and more.

Are these high energy, super fast canburglars safe?
Depends who you ask. Safe is not quantifiable. Safe is not defined in the manual. Safe is relative.

However... safe is required for legality.

Quote:
G1 ROBOTS whose operation or design is dangerous or unsafe are not permitted.
VIOLATION: If before the MATCH, the offending ROBOT will not be allowed to participate in the MATCH. If during the MATCH,
the offending ROBOT will be DISABLED.
The blue box clarifies:
Quote:
Examples include, but are not limited to:
A. Uncontrolled motion that cannot be stopped by the DRIVE TEAM
B. ROBOTS arms “flailing” off the FIELD
C. ROBOTS dragging their battery
D. ROBOTS that consistently extend outside the FIELD
All Canburglars must be "safe" to be allowed to compete, however "safety" is only loosely defined.

Who will determine which canburglars are safe?
How will this standard of safety be fairly and equally applied across all canburglars?
Will the World Championship be determined by an inspector's subjective decision that 118's canburglar is safe, but 254's isn't?

-John
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In the interest of full disclosure: I work for VEX Robotics a subsidiary of Innovation First International (IFI) Crown Supplier & Proud Supporter of FIRST
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