[kmcclary]

> You are correct in assuming that you can make additional pulleys out of legal kit material.

OK. Thanks for letting us know. As a novice team, we're just not sure what is allowed, and wanted to make sure we're getting the paradigm right.

> I agree that sometimes it may seem like the rules inhibit the simple solution,
> but that rule applies to all of the teams - so its equally troublesome for all [...]

A "level playing field" is IMHO the most important thing.

Actually we strongly APPRECIATE the "minimalist approach" and "improvising" aspects of this game! As a novice team with no sponsor yet and doing all of our tinkering in the High School's shop, it allows us to have a very fair chance when competing against giants with HUGE R&D and manufacturing capacity behind them who can create things like custom differential gear cases in their factories without breaking a sweat. We're more concerned about holding our own in the full FIRST contest in THAT regard, and is why we felt we really needed some baseline hardware experience under our belts before we jump in the deep end of the "motor pool". <wink>

Once we understand the limits of the rules and the "what's allowed" paradigm everyone else already knows, we'll be OK. Just please bear with us if we seem to ask a lot of "silly" questions.

>[...] sometimes its because we want to see you find alternative solutions to those problems.

Well, now that we see "Functional Equivalence with Additional Unlimited Materials" IS generally allowed, it actually opens up a LOT of opportunity areas! We happen to have a couple of major "improvisers" in our midst, and letting them loose is half the fun! <grin>

> I'm sure there are other ways to accomplish what you are trying to do,
> you may not have thought about them.

We are too far along in the timeline and couldn't depend on a positive ruling (nor wait), so we started exploring alternatives the same day I first posted on this topic "just in case". We've come up with a "Plan B" already, so I know we'll get the job done somehow.

Thanks!

- Keith McClary, Huron High Team 830