[Ken Delaney]

Changing your robot to improve its performance is not a new idea. I have seen robots change their function in the pits during the FIRST competition season. In Stack Attack we discovered at our first regional event that the electronics were mounted to high causing us to fall on our backs. At the second regional we spent all day Thursday rewiring the entire robot, improving the performance of the robot.
During the summer we built a new robot to take to post season competitions. Before we embarked on this project we contacted all the organizers of the events to make sure this would be okay. We assured them that robot we meet all the 2003 robot requirements. We took a frame from the 2000 season and modified it with spare parts and made a much more competitive robot for the post season events. We used the process as a teaching tool by getting the newer team members more involved in the robot design/build process.
So go ahead and build your robot, as long as the robot meets all the 2004 robot rules.