Now Im confused:
http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=12029
So batteries (even with soldered, crimped, attached, etc electrical leads on them) are considered COTS/Non-Fabricated, but spare motors with soldered wires (often used to help the poor rookie team who didnt know they could burn out a motor) are FABRICATED??
http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=12033
It seems to me (like Eric O'Brien stated) that "fabricated" is now being much more loosely interpreted than I expected... I didnt think that scratching the cover of a motor, or using sharpie on it would make it a fabricated item...
And then changing the pinion gear does not make it a Fabricated Item??
http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=11950
I get the intent of this rule, but I worry about how to enforce it and what it means for those teams who always used to run over to other teams to grab spare material. We always used to bring a box of random raw material to share with teams or use ourselves to the regional, but now Im scared that if we do and it is not in pristine "ordered from the factory" condition, that they will count it towards our withholding weight.
Maybe we could petition FIRST/the regionals to let us contribute to a "spares" bucket when we walk in the door and make a pile of extra parts that any teams could use as needed, even if they are "Fabricated" per FIRST's terms.