Materials not specifically allowed are now illegal?!?!

[martin417]

After reading this thread, I began to ponder the greater implications of this ruling. By saying that tape is illegal in bumper construction because it is not specifically allowed as a construction material, does that apply to the rest of the robot as well?

In the pneumatic rules, R74 states:

R74
To satisfy multiple constraints associated with safety, consistency, Inspection, and constructive innovation, no pneumatic parts other than those explicitly permitted in Section 4.10: Pneumatic System may be used on the ROBOT.

I don't see a similar rule pertaining to bumpers. If the GDC is going to apply this interpretation to bumpers, then what about the rest of the robot? I don't think it would be possible to build a robot under that interpretation. Is aluminum, plastic, plywood, or fiberglass explicitly allowed as a fabrication material? I don't think so.

Sometimes the law of un-intended consequences gets even the best of us. I thing the GDC needs to clarify their intent. Making tape illegal in bumper construction might be an inconvenience to some teams, but by extension of the ruling, staples are also illegal, and that might end up creating a situation where bumpers are less robust and not as effective.