Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyingJay
The COTS battery rule applies to something like a laptop or a smartphone, where the battery is reasonably expected to be an essential part of the package.
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[rant]
But no battery is integral to a device unless the battery cannot be removed and even then, if you can yank it out with some force and a screwdriver and replace it with a power converter then how can you possibly claim it is integral to the function of the system? Further, let's look at some examples.
You can claim a battery is integral to a laptop... but if you can pull the battery out and still run the laptop off of power converters then how is that battery integral to the system?
What if you replace the battery on a laptop? How is the battery integral to the function of the device if you can replace it?
What about cell phones and tablets? You can remove the battery on many of them and power it off of USB. Clearly the battery is not integral to the function of them.
Also, as we proved at one event, there are options for FRC teams to design custom circuits using super capacitors to keep computing systems powered. If that is allowed then why is a custom circuit with a battery not allowed?
FRC needs to examine the rules around additional batteries for onboard computers other than the RIO and apply the same approach of "allow but educate" to enable the use of them provided they aren't powering motors on the robot or in any way connected to the control pathways for the motors.
It drives me nuts. We are doing a lot with onboard processors and vision systems and it is REALLY HARD to keep time on these bloody systems (CMOS batteries are illegal at the moment!!!!), let alone keeping them happily powered because the battery rules for FRC are outdated when it comes to onboard computing devices. Combining that with network limitations and it is a true challenge.
[/rant]
I've applied the rant tags to the above so that the LRIs/RIs know that I know my request is probably unreasonable and will add stress to their (already very stressful) lives for having to check additional batteries but I really would like to see something changed. It is aggravating.
Also, we've since removed the super cap but it was really handy. Tom from 254 posted a buck/boost converter sold on Amazon that has truly been amazing. We're using it without any issues now and have recommended it to a lot of other teams. In my opinion, the battery rules for COTS computing devices are still broken and I feel like they need to be addressed.