[Matt Adams]

Rule 5.3.2.2 make it clear:
Build your own robot and robot parts. If you're not going to build your own, or are unable to, and none of your sponsors is going to build them, you need to have that maching cost go on the bill of materials.

It's been said that 90% of these parts were made by students or engineers, not the mutual machining sponsor.

The way it's written, (and assuming equal distribution), 45% of the parts on each robot need to be billed out.

Last year, we had Truck Town Thunder generously volunteer to fabricate two large pieces on our robot that took 6 or 7 hours to machine each. They didn't charge us, but we billed out each of those pieces at $50 an hour, for a total of $700 against our $3,500. It's the way the cookies crumbled.

Glen and Dennis and many other team members have mentioned time and time again all of the sincerely wonderful services these teams provide for ALL teams in FIRST. You speak of the noble intentions you had with this new idea. They said that students have learned a lot more than they would otherwise. This is wonderful and greatly appreciated. Honestly. I, for one, have NO doubts about your good intentions.

But intentions are mutually exclusive to the rules of the game.

This is OBVIOUSLY a grey area. Pick the shade of grey you like, but this is something that's revolutionary and pushing the envelope. It's not written in the rules. There will be a ruling by FIRST on this.

If you're trying to convince everyone on this board that the rules are 100% clear on this sort of colaboration and that a special ruling won't be needed, you're just kidding yourself.

Someone should have asked FIRST for clarity before this was done (not after) and I don't think it's fair to the individuals in FIRST to put them in this sort of a bind.

However, the situation is already at hand. If we want to keep this discussion worthwhile, let's put the facts (rules) before us about it. Personal attacks, sincerity of intentions, and the fact that the manufacturing has already occured should have no bearing on the rules.

There's a few issues at hand:
1. Can one student be a member of two or more teams?
2. How should this billing situation (if needed) be resolved?
3. What's the defintion a sponsor?

Let's keep to those and other related topics.

Good luck everybody,

Matt