Everyone,
My sincere apologies if I offended anyone as I lobbed a new idea into the mix. Al, if you thought I was questioning anyone's honor or integrity above, I promise you that I was not. Ken, you are correct about proposing new rules elsewhere and I, without "having the last word", will immediately get back on the subject.
Lucien gets back on track
After reviewing the
robot rules from 2004, it seems to me that it would be legal by the letter AND spirit of the rules to have parts made for your team just as long as they are duplicates of off-the-shelf products. FIRST seems to have been worried about teams having parts going into last season that are different (custom) from what other teams can acquire through a supplier. Below are the rules that directly apply but reading through the rules reveals FIRST's intent.
<R68> Additional Parts must be generally available from suppliers such that any other FIRST team, if it so desires, may also obtain them at the same price.
<R09> Teams must fabricate and/or assemble all custom parts and assembled mechanisms on the robot by the 2004 team after the start of the Kick-off. Mechanisms from previous year’s robots may not be used, however, individual off-the-shelf components from previous year’s robots may be re-used to save the cost of re-purchase of these parts IF they meet ALL of the 2004 Additional Parts and Materials Rules.
<2004 Part Use Flowchart> Is part off-the-shelf or custom made by the team after the start of the 2004 Kickoff? (See Robot Section) YES==>part can go on 'bot ... NO==>part can not go on 'bot
For example, the 2004 rules allow for a bearing manufacturer (or a machine shop) to give a team a truck load of "standard" bearings without making them available to other teams. Because teams can buy the bearings at McMaster or Sears, the team was allowed to use these bearings but the team had to cost the bearings (charge the bearings that they use on their robot against their $3,500 limit) at the same cost as vendors that could supply the bearings to other teams (Sears or McMaster).
To extrapolate to more advanced mechanisms, the 2004 rules would allow for the construction of an AM transmission by a local shop as long as it is available to other teams through another source; in this case, Andy-Mark.
I realize that this is not a popular outcome and I personally hope this will not be the result of the 2005 rules analysis. What is discouraging is that most of us think that having a machine shop build AM transmissions before the season would be a violation of the 2004 rules when in reality, it would be perfectly legal within the letter and spirit of the '04 rules. CONGRATULATIONS to those who MADE THE RIGHT CALL!!!