Interesting Q/A's

[AmyPrib]

Going in goal more than 3" regardless of who caused it... DQ! Drive carefully opponents!

Question
Our robot is in the process of dumping balls into the corner goal and no part of the robot is extended into the goal. We are then pushed by an opponent's robot such that our dumping mechanism is now more than 3" into the goal. Who would receive the penalty for extending into the goal more than 3"?

Answer
Any robot that extends more than three inches into the goal (three inches past the plexiglas barrier) will be disqualified. If your robot has been designed such that it can extend into the goal, even if pushed, then you would be wise to operate the robot cautiously when in the vicinity of the goal.

Don't ram someone at high speed or excessively in automode!

Question
<G22> Intentional ROBOT - ROBOT Interaction - Strategies aimed solely at the destruction, damage, tipping over, or entanglement of ROBOTs are not in the spirit of the FIRST Robotics Competition and are not allowed.

If a robots only purpose, in autonomous mode, is to run across the field and push/ram a robot that is trying to shoot will they be penalized for damage to the other robot?
Will it depend on the speed of the ramming robot? Slow speed and pushing as opposed to high speed and ramming?

Answer
Robot strategies intended to disrupt the aim of an opposing robot are acceptable and to be expected as long as they are not excessive. Excessive robot-to-robot interactions, as defined in Rule <G22> are not acceptable. This rule apples to both autonomous and teleoperated phases of the game.

[GaryVoshol]

It'll probably be deleted, but I caught this spam:

[quote] Hello from Publidirecta (Spain)

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Good afternoon, we are a Spanish company called Publidirecta, dedicated to different services.

[devicenull]

Originally Posted by GaryV1188

It'll probably be deleted, but I caught this spam:

Mind removing the link? If not it's as bad as they are (improves their search engine results when sites link to them)

[Andy Brockway]

on 3/17/06
Alliance Captain during eliminations

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Must the alliance captain be a DRIVER or HUMAN PLAYER?

If not, where should the alliance captain who is not a DRIVER or HUMAN PLAYER be during a match? What about after a match?

ANSWER

Re: Alliance Captain during eliminations

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See Section 8.4.1. The Alliance Captian must be a student member of the team. The Alliance Captain must be one of the designated team member positions (DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER, or COACH if the COACH is a student). The Alliance Captain is not an additional team member beyond the four designated team members already on the field during the match.

This is not specified in the rules. I looked it up right after UTC because I saw Alliance Captains not on the drive team. Some teams will have to make some changes.

[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by Andy Brockway

This is not specified in the rules. I looked it up right after UTC because I saw Alliance Captains not on the drive team. Some teams will have to make some changes.

Andy,

If by "not specified in the rules" you mean "these words do not exist in the rules", then I agree.

I'm not sure what FIRST is doing here... It looks like they are referencing a different rule book than we have.

We have always selected our alliance captain from outside of the drive team.

We will make changes if and when the rules change.

Mike

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Mike Betts

I'm not sure what FIRST is doing here... It looks like they are referencing a different rule book than we have.

No, they aren't. Make sure you aren't mentally inserting rules that do not exist when you read the answer.

No where in the rules does it say that the DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER or COACH positions have to be filled by the same person throughout the entire competition. Teams can swap out these positions throughout the competition. All teams have to do is pass the DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER or COACH button to whatever person on the team that you want as your representative, and away you go. For the 30 minutes it takes to complete the alliance selections, any student on the team can be assigned as COACH (or whatever), and then they pass the position and the button off to someone else. That way, the team can have whoever they want as the representative during alliance selections (as long as it is a student), then have whoever they want as the members of the drive team during the matches.

They way this answer was worded, and particularly when examined in the context of the wording of the original question, seems to indicate that FIRST was adressing a different issue. The wording of the original question can be interpreted as an attempt to make the Alliance Captain a fifth position on the drive team (in addition to the COACH, DRIVERS and HUMAN PLAYER). This answer makes it clear that you can't do that, and that the team is limited to no more than four members of the drive team out on the field (which keeps things consistent with Rule <G31>). I think that they have properly addressed that issue, without restricting which particular individual from the team may be temporarily assigned as the team representative during the alliance selections.

-dave

[Andy Brockway]

Originally Posted by dlavery

No, they aren't. Make sure you aren't mentally inserting rules that do not exist when you read the answer.

No where in the rules does it say that the DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER or COACH positions have to be filled by the same person throughout the entire competition..........

-dave

When I saw the alliance captain, the person with the bib, standing in the queing area during their match at UTC , I decided to read the rules again. This what happens when you have been in FIRST for a while, rules change. I can remember when the bib was not allowed to be removed once placed on the alliance captain and had to be with the drive team during matches.

Does the above ruling require the bib to be worn during the match by a member of the drive team? If so, it should be enforced.

In either case, I have my driver be the Captain/Representative. He/she knows what's expected for alliance picking.

[Joe Ross]

http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=847

<R59> doesn't seem to be the right rule for disallowing bluetooth on the OI, as it deals with custom circuits on the robot.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=847

<R59> doesn't seem to be the right rule for disallowing bluetooth on the OI, as it deals with custom circuits on the robot.

Section 7.13.1 bans two-way radios, but that's about all that I can see in the rules concerning off-board devices. Like Joe said, it's pretty clear from the rest of the rules that the controls (and things that interface with them) are not covered as custom circuits (see <R57>).

I don't think Bluetooth would be a problem, technically speaking, because it operates at 2.4 GHz (not 900 MHz like the radios) and uses pseudorandom frequency-hopping at 1.6 KHz between 79 channels (as a security measure).

As a practical matter, Bluetooth could be one more manifestation of the unwritten rule that communication from outside the alliance station is not allowed. (The team in question isn't asking to do this, but I'd speculate that FIRST wants to avoid this situation.)

[Tristan Lall]

Tubing rules

Originally Posted by FRC1139

Is it legal to use a short length of appropriately rated 3/8" OD pneumatics tubing for flow reasons. Our intent is NOT to increase our air storage capacity but to increase flow rate.

Originally Posted by GDC

No. Any additional tubing used on the robot must be identical to the tubing supplied in the kit. The kit tubing has been carefully sized to limit the flow rates throughout the entire pneumatic systems to a safe level.

This response is not quite correct. <R100> allows 2005's tubing (i.e. SMC TIUB07, not Freelin-Wade), cylinders and solenoid valves, subject to the usual limits. Furthermore, <R26> extends this to any "previous year's cylinder, valve, or tubing", despite the apparent discrepancy with <R100>. However, 3/8" tubing, since it has never been in the kit, is clearly illegal.

Previous years' tubing, even of the same size as this year's tubing isn't "identical" to the 2006 tubing. (We don't apply "same ratings" ≈ "identical" to other pneumatic components, so I think that there's a precedent that supports my criticism.)