[Kevin Sevcik]

Hmmm.... R17 is distinctly lacking any comment about design, while R18 does say that the robot must be designed during the season. In fact, none of the other build rules say anything about hardware design or drawings, just fabrication. On yet another hand, there's the official unofficial verbiage about no detailed drawings or anything outside of build times.....

Frankly, I think the whole thing needs some specific clarification from FIRST so they can bring the verbiage and rules in line one way or another. I don't think it's rules lawyering to actually want the rules to mention this instead of a vague, possibly applicable preface to a rules section. I think it's preventing rules lawyering and arguments about what's official. At the very least, it would give people something to point at.

That said..... I can sort of understand the logic, but the logical conclusion disturbs me. It implies that I may not do any detailed design work on my robot after ship outside of fix it windows. I can understand not designing new systems to be whipped together at regionals. I cannot understand (potentially) not being able to calculate and source a new gear ratio in case your lifter doesn't perform as advertised. Can't dimension and locate potential speed holes. Draw a circle on paper? Better not put a diameter on it. (You know, for kids.)

Mostly I'm philosophically against this. We're theoretically encouraging students to be engineers. Engineers looove having a portfolio of working designs to pick from and adapt. If it's a standard problem with a standard solution, all the better. If we're telling teams that anything they do in the off season must be wiped from their memories..... well I'm not sure how that encourages students to be excited about engineering year round. (Sorry Johnny, FIRST says your shifting transmission design has to go in the trash. But on the bright side, you get to do it all over again.) Mostly.... I think FIRST is now struggling mightily with the opposing interests of being an engineering inspiration and being a robot competition. For all that they swear it's not about the robots, some of these restrictions can only be rationally explained from that POV.

EDIT: Ok.... I just read the rules that make preseason AM trannies illegal. I'm rather upset with them philosophically, but will spare CD my rant for now until FIRST has a chance to clarify. Once they finally have Q&A working.