Dangerous precedent set by Q&A 461: Loaning Parts/Assemblies to other teams

[Louisiana Jones]

Originally Posted by Chief Hedgehog

Sorry - not questioning any teams. I don't like the way my statement came off after reading it either. I love having teams helping other teams. In hind-sight I should have stated "complete elements" that changed the initial intent of the robot.

Yes, aiding another team with COTS is great. We have done the same in the past. We pride ourselves in lending out motors, gears, etc. Also, we have been the recipients of COTS items as well to keep our robot running.

Sorry for any misunderstanding!

This past weekend at The Greater Kansas City regional S.W.A.T. 1806 seems to have broken the rules several times. In the first instance we loaned a team our backup ramp that they then used for 6 matches of the qualification rounds. We did check with inspectors before, and they told us that they didn't see a problem with what we were doing. In the second instance we were part of alliance that drafted a team with the intent of adding a pair of RC grabbers and a noodle sweep. We took a lot of heat from the inspectors because the team we drafted was less involved then they would have liked in the outfitting process. I'd say we certainly changed the intent of their robot as we completely removed their lift mechanism to make weight. Right or wrong the ruling will certainly make us more cautious in how we deal with other teams, and who we pick for alliance selections.