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Originally Posted by Raul
The question I have is - if we buy them now can we use them on the robot in 2005? Do we know the official ruling on this?
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We have not sought out an official ruling, and I don't have a plan to do so. Tomorrow, I could buy standard gearboxes from Bayside, HD Systems, Boston Gear, Mectrol, or others. These standard, purchased gearboxes would be legal on FIRST robot for 2005, if FIRST keeps the rules the same as they did last year. Why should our standard gearboxes be treated any different from the ones that are currently available in the industrial market?
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Originally Posted by Jeff_Rice
Now this is just a hypothetical question, and please don't be insulted by it. If Andy Baker learned through his volunteering with FIRST that all of the motors would be changed, would it be illegal for him to stop making and selling these and begin making compatible products? I was just thinking along the lines of illegal stock tips.
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(For the record, FIRST has not told us what motors are in the kit for 2005. We have some educated guesses, but no "for sure" information.)
Good question, and no offense taken. I could see that IF FIRST told us which motors are in the kit, they could require us to not be on a team. I am not saying that they would do that, nor am I saying that we would agree to do that, but I could see them asking.
On the other hand, I cannot see them coming out with a rule stating "teams can buy any mechanical part they wish, from any vendor, as long as it is not from AndyMark, Inc." This seems unreasonable to me. Call me crazy, but I am assuming that FIRST may like that certain companies are marketing directly to support FIRST teams. They should see this as a good thing, I hope.
Speaking of supporting FIRST teams, Mark and I have decided to post complete CAD files of our 3 current products on our site, in "STEP" format (.stp). This way, teams can plop our CAD models into their designs and see if they fit. Teams can then choose to purchase our assemblies or make (and/or alter) these designs themselves. We think that our prices are low enough and our delivery will be good enough that teams will want to buy from us. If teams are pinching pennies, they can buy certain parts from us which are difficult to fabricate and then make the rest of the design themselves. Stand by for an update on our site about this.
I will post an update here when the STEP files are available on the site.
Andy B.