[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Qbranch

I went to buckeye for the first (hahah) last year and had an AWESOME time. The venue is great, the pit area is spacious and has some room to breathe (and practice) on the far end of the floor. The indoor stadium works very well for this event, and seems to be sized about right for it.

Last year... I'd say this regional had THE best team social... how can you beat a science museum only open to FIRSTers? Kind of bummed that they arent going to the science museum this year... but I hear the rock and roll hall of fame is pretty cool.

Just be aware... last year at least the inspectors were really really tight on the rules. For example, I was carrying a spare frame rail for our shooter bot last year that I had made since the robot was shipped... wasn't so much for spare parts as it was to show off to people... I was pretty proud of it... looked fancy and all.

It had two parts to it... the main part with a track tensioner that slides into the end... The lady wouldnt let me in with the two pieces slid together... because it was assembled parts! And, after i slid them apart and showed her, i slid them back together and started to walk in... but she didnt let me do that either... so in frustration i held them apart in my hands, walked backwards facing her, crossed the magic line of tape, and slid them back together.... thats the one and only time i've been annoyed by an inspector... anybody else think she was being a little extreme?

*sigh* well... i guess this year we got some spare parts too... couple boxes of spare gussets in case of broken welds and another box with enough parts to build a whole nother elevator if need be...

-q

I believe the following is relevant to your inspector issue. Reading R31 and the definition of "Fabricated Item", I believe there is an inconsistency in the rules regarding whether fabricated item MECHANISMS apply to Rule R31. R31 refers to fabricated items but doesn't specifically refer to the term "mechanisms", which is most definitely referred to in the definition of "Fabricated Items". Anyone care to clarify?

 
 
<R31> Teams may bring a maximum of 25 pounds of custom FABRICATED ITEMS (SPARE
PARTS, REPLACEMENT PARTS, and/or UPGRADE PARTS) to each competition event to
be used to repair and/or upgrade their ROBOT at the competition site. All other
FABRICATED ITEMS to be used on the ROBOT during the competition must arrive at the
competition venue packed in the shipping crate with the ROBOT

 
FABRICATED ITEM – Any COMPONENT or MECHANISM that has been altered, built, cast,
constructed, concocted, created, cut, heat treated, machined, manufactured, modified, painted,
produced, surface coated, or conjured into the final form in which it will be used on the ROBOT.
o Example 1:A piece of extruded aluminum has been ordered by the team, and arrives in a
20-foot length. To make it fit in their storage room, the team cuts it into two ten-foot
lengths. These would not be considered FABRICATED ITEMS, as they have not been
cut to the final length in which they will be used on the ROBOT.
o Example 2: A team designs an arm mechanism that uses gears with a 1/2-inch face
width. They order a 12-inch length of gear stock and cut it into precise 1/2 inch slices.
They do not bore out the mounting bores in the center of the gears. The slices are now
considered FABRICATED ITEMS, as they have been cut to final size, even though all the

machining operations (the center bore) may not yet be completed.