I've thought very vaguely about how minibots can be designed - simply put, our team is holding off on that for now in order to ensure the Robot has a solid design and will be finished on time.
However, reading this made me go look at the rules, and they raise an interesting question..
There's nothing in the MINIBOT section specifically that would prevent this. However, it would appear that <R48> applies:
Quote:
<R48> All electrical loads (motors, actuators, compressors) must be supplied by an approved power regulating device (speed controller, relay module, or Digital Sidecar PWM port) that is controlled by the cRIO-FRC on the ROBOT.
ROBOT – the composite electromechanical assembly designed and built by a FRC team to perform specific tasks when competing in the 2011 competition LogoMotion. The ROBOT must include all the basic systems required to be an active participant in the game – power, communications, control, mobility, and actuation. The ROBOT implementation must obviously follow a design approach intended to play the 2011 FRC game (e.g. a box of unassembled parts placed on the FIELD, or a ROBOT designed to play a different game, would not satisfy this definition). The ROBOT includes both the HOSTBOT and the MINIBOT (ROBOT = HOSTBOT + MINIBOT).
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So... from this combination of rules and definition, it would appear that the minibot has to be controlled from the cRio? But that goes directly against:
Quote:
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<G19> After DEPLOYMENT, MINIBOTS must remain completely autonomous. Violation: The TOWER on which the MINIBOT is DEPLOYED is diabled. If the MINIBOT is not deployed on a TOWER, then the ALLIANCE’s TOWER upon which the highest RACE SCORE was earned will be discounted.
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I think this might be a good question for the GDC to clarify...