Update #3

[JohnBoucher]

Update #3 is out. Update #3

Pipe is now 1.74"

[thefro526]

Doesn't look too ground breaking. The exact method for calculating servo power is really nice, and so are the clarifications for tape and the pole material.

Oh, and servos on the mini-bot are pretty nifty too.

[Justin Montois]

I thought the wording change on <R92> C. No more then one 12V rechargeable...

It used to say exactly. Are some teams not using a battery?

[Alan Anderson]

Slip rings are no longer disparaged.

[KrazyCarl92]

So we can use cylinders and tanks other than those included in the KOP...

[wilsonmw04]

I wonder how one would control a servo without a NXT and FTC servo controller? Can you control them with simple switches like you would a motor?

[gbrettmiller]

Note the change to <G07>:

Items other than the ROBOTS and the GAME PIECES UBERTUBES shall not be placed on the FIELD prior to or during the MATCH.

This seems to leave open the possibility that you could stage a LOGO PIECE on your ROBOT instead of an UBERTUBE during PRE-MATCH. I can see this being useful if your AUTONOMOUS program is not functioning, to get you in good position for the start of TELEOPS.

I guess the question then is how many LOGO PIECES are actually available for each match? Just enough to equip each FEEDER STATION with 3 sets in accordance with <G10>, or enough to meet that requirement plus more? I've been assuming the former, but don't have any justification for that assumption.

Thoughts?

[Stephen of REX]

Hmmm, so the FTC lego power switch isn't allowed? We were using that to activate the minibot motors...

Edit: oh wait it is a tetrix part, phew. Its just mounted on lego parts.

[buildmaster5000]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Slip rings are no longer disparaged.

Please pardon my terrible vocabulary, but even after a google search I am still confused by what you mean by this . Are they now leagal??

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by 340x4xLife

I thought the wording change on <R92> C. No more then one 12V rechargeable...

It used to say exactly. Are some teams not using a battery?

Very good question... especially with <G19> pretty much forbidding anything but the battery from providing the energy to move up the pole.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by buildmaster5000

Please pardon my terrible vocabulary, but even after a google search I am still confused by what you mean by this . Are they now leagal??

Per the update (see link on OP):

The branch circuit may include intermediate elements such as COTS connectors, splices, COTS flexible/rolling/sliding contacts, and COTS slips rings, as long as the entire electrical pathway is via appropriately gauged conductors.

emphasis mine.

[Racer26]

I smell more changes to MINIBOT rules on the horizon.

Also: Are the Tetrix servos of any added value to providing the MINIBOT with upward motion, supplementing the Tetrix motors?

EDIT: Furthermore: YAY! Slip Rings! Teams can finally deal with wires on rotating masses in ways they should have been able to 10+ years ago.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by gbrettmiller

This seems to leave open the possibility that you could stage a LOGO PIECE on your ROBOT instead of an UBERTUBE during PRE-MATCH.

No, it doesn't. <G06> is still in effect. The modified language just fixes a logic error in the old phrasing that could have been interpreted to mean that game pieces other than ubertubes might not be allowed on the field during the match.



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[Bob Holmstrom]

Have magnets have disappeared from the list of approved components?

Bob

[gbrettmiller]

Originally Posted by dlavery

No, it doesn't. <G06> is still in effect. The modified language just fixes a logic error in the old phrasing that could have been interpreted to mean that game pieces other than ubertubes might not be allowed on the field during the match.

<G06> only states that each ROBOT must be in contact with one UBERTUBE, it does not prohibit a ROBOT being in possession of a LOGO PIECE at the start of the match.

I had a similar initial reaction to the change. Then I though that if that were the intent of the change, it would have made more sense to remove the "or during the MATCH" phrase instead of changing UBERTUBE to GAME PIECES, especially since this is in the Pre-Match section of the rules.