[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by Japper

I am a little unclear about the use of custom parts and would appreciate it
if anyone can help me to understand the rules on the following:

I understand that the total limit of additional parts used must be less than
$3500 and if I understand it correctly, any one part used must be worth
$400 or less. Is this a correct understanding of the 2007 rules so far?

Yes

Originally Posted by Japper

In the scenario where I were to accept a donation of an assembly that is
offered by a company and it is typically sells for $600 and is available
to anyone who wanted to buy it at that price, is it true that this part
would be not allowed because it costs mors than $400 to purchase it?

Yes

Originally Posted by Japper

Is this value based upon the selling price of the assembly or the cost of materials that go into the assembly?

Cost for purchased items is based on the selling price. However if the part is produced by a sponsor or team member then the cost could be based on the raw materials.

Originally Posted by Japper

If we were to customize the assembly or only use a portion of this
assembly, are we limited to using any one piece worth less than $400?
How would we determine this value?

You need to base your cost on the minimum a member of the public would have to pay to get the equivalent item. So if you are scavenging a carpet sweeper, you would have to account for the cost of the complete sweeper.

Originally Posted by Japper

If we were to take the above assembly and only use 1/4 of it, so that we
are effectively only using $150 of the value of the donated item, can we
report this as a $150 part?

No

Originally Posted by Japper

Can we value the above portion of the assembly as the value of the individual components of this assembly if we buy it that way?

Yes, for example if you were using something that can be purchased seperately as a repair part, you could use it based on the spare part price. In the carpet sweeper example above, if you just wanted the roller assembly and you could get it separately, then you could use the cost for just the assembly.

Originally Posted by Japper

One last question... What do we need to log and show to the judges regarding additional parts used, do we need manufacturer name & contact info, part number, cost basis, and / or what else?

Thanks!

At a minimum you want an item description, the amount purchased, the cost of the item, and a total cost. If there might be a question about the usability of the part, then you might want to include a reference to the rule(s) you feel makes it OK to use.

My team creates a parts data base in Excell. The data base includes information about which subsystem it is part of, how much the part weighs, and what the source was. During Build we use it mostly to keep track of the robot weight and projected weight. But when we reach a competition we just have to blank out everything except the cost and part description and print it out.