45 Degree rule...

[Andy Baker]

Originally posted by Chris Hibner

Meanwhile team 45 (just as an example - I have no idea what they're really doing) has spent the last three weeks trying to design a good mechanism to lift the goals. All of this effort to gain an advantage has now been negated because now anyone can use a simple ramp. If they had known this from the beginning, they might have put their design efforts in another area.

-Chris

No idea what we're doing? ha! Chris, you must've been watching our super-secret webcam the past day. You would've seen our team knocking our foreheads against our shop's wall.

We had this really sweet 3-goal-lifting system where the titanium grabbers only contacted the goal's pipe and flanges. This system loaded all the goals' 540# on our non-carpet-damaging tread system... but, alas... now that this ruling is out, all teams will be loading down their 'bots with all three goals by simply putting a small wedge under the upper platform. So, we are back to square one.

But, seriously...

I don't like this new ruling at all. This is similar to these other FIRST rulings and rule "changes":

'92: allowing teams to make their own pneumatic systems
'97: allowing teams to reach under another robot and tip them over
'98: increasing the ability for the human player to affect a match's outcome
'99: allowing (and not allowing) teams to shove each other while on and around the puck
'00: initially restricting teams from shoving opponents off of the pipe and then not ever calling a violation
'01: allowing a "poor man's balance" and allowing liberal use of timing belt for added wheel traction

Now, since FIRST has made this rule change, I can see a couple of things happen:
1. Many teams will simply construct a wedge which will go under the steel angle to lift the goal... but... they will not realize that this will produce a moment on their robot which will result in a robo-wheelie.
2. Some teams will use a compressable material (SPI legal rubber, whatever) to contact with the lower edge of the steel angle at an angle which they think is legal, but since the material will compress, then there will be no such 15 degree angle for them to be legal.

So... the teams who did the brainwork and prototyping to get a way to lift the goal by the pipe may still have an advantage. What FIRST needs to realize that this ruling made a game which was previously VERY hard to referee even more difficult.

Andy B.