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Originally Posted by meaubry
I just know that if the robot gets smashed into or tipped over and that creates a catastrophic failure which in turn requires me to repair the robot, I would think that a team should be able to have "spare replacement parts" available. I changed my mind on this afterthinking a bit more about it. To me, any team that takes the time to plan ahead for potential failures (we do that in practice at work - its called failure mode and effects analysis) and has the ability to produce "spare parts" for those parts that have a "high probability of needing a replacement due to being damaged" should not be penalized. That is not being unfair - it is being smart and planning ahead.
I am also of the opinion that during the competition and at the site - if a team chooses to total reconstruct their robot to function differently (adding or subtracting parts) it should be allowed - as long as the parts being added or altered are created from raw materials brought to the competition (not pre-made parts).
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Rule 10 from "The Robot" section of last year's manual states: "Teams are expected to design and build robots to withstand vigorous interaction with other robots."
I take that to mean devices should be as robust as possible, such that if they break, they can be repaired without having to replace the entire device. Should one of those rare occurrences where the forces involved are more than anyone could have predicted, and a device is destroyed beyond repair, such is the nature of the game. If you can bring enough raw materials to build a replacement, that is within the written rule. If it's too complicated to rebuild, improvise with the raw materials available. I believe the exceptions to the spare parts rules are parts manufactured within the 6 week build period, and packaged within the crate. Those parts were built within the time limit, shipped with the robot, and are therefore allowed to be used on the robot. I know there is only a week between the ship date and the first round of regionals, but consider teams attending regionals later in the season. Is it fair that they would get almost a month of extra time to build spare parts, and show up at the regional with replacements and/or upgrades for everything?
This is how the rules are currently laid out, and I think it's fair as is. There is a 6 week limit on building parts, and as the basis of the building competition, it should be honored as a limit on replacement parts as well. It's six weeks, not 5, not 7, but 6. 8 is out of the question
. It's a mechanism in place to keep the playing field as level as possible among all teams, regardless of resources or time between shipping and competition.