Were to store practice bot at regional?

[nixiebunny]

We have a practice bot in the back of the pickup truck. It's a spare-parts machine at the regional. I probably don't want to leave it in the back of the truck, but it might be hard to put it inside the cab on the seat. The hotel is a mile away.

Hmmm... where?

[notmattlythgoe]

Remember, you can only bring 45 lbs of manufactured non COTS items into the arena. So having an entire robot of spare parts is not really legal.

[Sparky3D]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

Remember, you can only bring 45 lbs of manufactured non COTS items into the arena. So having an entire robot of spare parts is not really legal.

Sorry to say it OP, but I'm going to have to agree that this isn't legal (unless your practice bot is under 45 pounds). Also, if you declare your practice bot as part of your withholding, you can't do anything to it in the parking lot (rule T11), or after hours (rule R15).

If you think you're going to need some of the parts off that bot, you should really go talk to the officials at the event, explain the situation, and (if they allow it) strip the needed parts off the practice bot and bring them into the venue as your withholding allowance. The rest of the bot can then be left back at the hotel.

[s_forbes]

Take the top half off and bring it in (it's definitely under 45 lbs). Leave the drivetrain; as a KOP drivetrain there are bound to be folks with spare parts.

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by s_forbes

Take the top half off and bring it in (it's definitely under 45 lbs). Leave the drivetrain; as a KOP drivetrain there are bound to be folks with spare parts.

Is the KOP drivetrain not a COTS device? Granted, it is assembled, but dismantled anything unmodified will not count to the 45lbs.

What I see teams do is keep the practice bots in their trailers and send a few kids out to the parking lot to recover parts as needed, so only weight you actually need is ever brought in.

I your situation, just dismantle the systems and bring in what you expect to break (hard stops on catapult, out-of-frame ball intakes etc, and as much COTS parts you can otherwise) and perhaps leave the robot in someone's hotel room (we built our 2012 practice robot again in the hotel during an offseason event, there is definitely room)

[notmattlythgoe]

What I see teams do is keep the practice bots in their trailers and send a few kids out to the parking lot to recover parts as needed, so only weight you actually need is ever brought in.

This in my opinion is against the rules and is definitely against the intention of the rule.

[mrnoble]

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

Is the KOP drivetrain not a COTS device? Granted, it is assembled, but dismantled anything unmodified will not count to the 45lbs.

Is there anything left truly unmodified in the KOP drivetrain? Enlarge a hole, or make it a widebot, or a longbot, and it is modified. Stripping a wire on a CIM for crimping is modification, as has been pointed out in past threads many times.

It is not cool to have Frankenstein's Monster in your hotel room or trailer, to pull parts from as necessary. I have already said that I think the 45 pounds rule is very clear, and that it is extremely generous. It was raised from 30 to accommodate the folks whose build schedule was ruined by the weather this year. Unless you can get your practice bot down to 45 pounds or less, bringing it to competition with the intent of using it for spares is CHEATING.

[wilsonmw04]

The regional is in the building, if you keep the robot out of the building you should be ok as long as you don't bring it more than 45 pounds of it into the arena/school. Can those of you who are saying that this is illegal, can you please point to the rule that says what defines an event and what defines the 45 pound allowance that backs you up?

[BigJ]

The whole "practice bot in a trailer" thing may be why they added the word "static" to the definition of the withholding allowance. I don't remember that word being there before.

[colin340]

Welcome folks, welcome to the dumbest rule in first.

[D_Price]

I have two words to add. Always remember "gracious professionalism" whether in FRC or wherever it carries over into the real world.

[I_AM_Clayton]

Originally Posted by Sparky3D

(unless your practice bot is under 45 pounds).

#cardboardFRCrobots
#woodFRCrobots

Which team is the one that makes wood robots every year? I can't seem find them

[jkelleyrtp]

Such a necro bump man...

[David Brinza]

Yes, this was quite the hot issue in 2014.

In 2015, teams were required to bring their withholding allowance items into the pits during robot load-in. Going to the trailer or build site after load-in was not permitted. Robot inspectors would ask teams with a significant amount of fabricated items declared as "withhold allowance" to weigh them at the inspection station. A lot of teams fabricated new items using COTS parts and raw materials in the pits or sanctioned on-site machine shops - all completely within the rules.

I suspect the rules will be similar in 2016, as it removes the ambiguity of what items are declared as withholding allowance.

Read the robot rules carefully and plan ahead!!

[Doc Wu]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

I suspect the rules will be similar in 2016, as it removes the ambiguity of what items are declared as withholding allowance.

I suspect, that if word gets back to the GDC about this hot topic, the rules might get tighter!