YMTC: Super Duper Hook!

[Jack Jones]

Originally Posted by Natchez

You Make The Call (YMTC) is a series of situations where you can be the ref and make the call.

...Bluateam completes all of the Bluabot duplicate pieces, ships their robot, ...
A week after ship, Bluateam comes together to put their practice 'bot together. The final step of assembly is completed by welding the four pieces of the hook and putting it on their practice 'bot. "

If the duplicate hook was welded, then use it - if not, then weld it. Otherwise, go without it and stink up the place.
The practice hook was sullied (welded) after the six week period and isn't legal.

Said it before, will say it again. Assinine rules like the spare parts rule will end up being the death of FIRST. How many sponsors want spend that kind of money only to end up looking foolishly defective. Why not just close the pits and bop till you drop - last bot running wins.

[Jeff Waegelin]

I say it's illegal. Welding it after kickoff counts as fabrication after the six-week period. If they'd welded it before ship day, I would say it's a legal part. Since it wasn't, it is therefore illegal.

[Kevin Sevcik]

That rule states the "during the six week period following kickoff" you can make spare parts. That six weeks is the build season, so if they fabricated it after shipping the robot, it would be illegal.

Wow. I keep missing that and flashing back to when you could do some sorts of minimal construction after ship date. Sorry. Though in that case, the admonition against bolt on assemblies makes no sense whatsoever. If you've built the spare assembly and assembled it during the 6 weeks and ship it with your robot.... well I have no idea why you couldn't have it pre-assembled if you've gone to the trouble of designing a modular replacable spare system on your robot.

Not that that's debatable if that's the rule and all. There's a goodly number of rather odd rules in there.