[Rickertsen2]

If you could change one FIRST rule what would it be and why?

I know i would eleminate the "custom cylinder order form". I feel that it is overly restrictive and hampers the developement of some really cool mechanisms. It prohibits all sorts of parts that pose no safety hazard, are available to all teams, and would allow for a great deal of novel mechanisms. I believe the intent was either to restrict teams to Bimba or to limit the bore and therefore force of actuators. If they want to make sure teams buy Bimba products, they should simply have a rule such as

"Any off the shelf actuator made by Bimba is legal so long as it does not violate any other rules"

If they want to make sure we don't use something capable of outputting excessive force then they should make a rule such as:

"any off the shelf actuator is legal so long as it does not have an effective piston surface exceeding XXX and does not violate any other rules"