Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug G
In order for us to pass inspection last year, our off board compressor had to still be wired correctly to a battery through the 120 amp fuse and separate 20 Amp fuse and use appropriate wire gauges and such even though it wasn't on the robot (it was on our cart).
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We had the same issue, and it sparked some serious discussion. What we had was fused and all the connections were secure, but the rules still required that we connect the pump through a Spike. Now, we lawyered the rule and ran the current of one of the leads through a Spike. That got us past inspection. This year the rules are clearer, <R101> tells us:
Quote:
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<R101> The compressor may be mounted on the ROBOT, or it may be left off the ROBOT and used to pre-charge compressed air in the storage tanks prior to bringing the ROBOT onto the playing field. Off-board compressors must be controlled and powered by the ROBOT. The only difference between an on- and off-board compressor is that the off-board compressor is physically removed from the ROBOT. Note: the intent of this rule is to permit teams to take advantage of the weight savings associated with keeping the compressor off-board. But using the compressor off-board of the ROBOT does NOT permit non-compliance with any other applicable rules.
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So, we will probably make some kind of 5 (ish) wire connector to attach the Spike and signal cable to the robot. It is a safety issue, though--the robot won't trigger the compressor if it is disabled, so it must be enabled and powered on with the controls tethered (triple
) to fill the tanks. I will talk to my mentor about submitting this to the QnA to see if they will revise the rules to make filling up more safe.
JBot