Bluetooth Headsets+Drive Teams=?legality?

[Nawaid Ladak]

i remember that my old team used to scream RAMP with 20 seconds left from the stands at UCF. it sometimes worked. idk.

but what about communicating within your alliance. like team A mentor Team B mentor and team C mentor all on a three way call in their respective drive stations on the red alince.

so what, this wasn't legal in previous years???

[Greg Perkins]

Nope. The only way/form of communications in years past have been behind the driver station between the drive-teams. No radios, cameras, or cell phones are to be used during a match; there are some "grey areas" in this rule that some teams step on the edge between grey and black. I know of a few teams who have people positioned around the field to give help to the drivers, however this is illegal and they rarely ever get asked to sit down. Rules are rules.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

Originally Posted by FreedomForce

i remember that my old team used to scream RAMP with 20 seconds left from the stands at UCF. it sometimes worked. idk.

but what about communicating within your alliance. like team A mentor Team B mentor and team C mentor all on a three way call in their respective drive stations on the red alince.

so what, this wasn't legal in previous years???

There was a team that tried using an intra-alliance comm system with headsets. It sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure how well it worked.
Personally, I would never rely on a device another team made to communicate with them, nor would I expect other teams to use something I made.

[eshteyn]

Hey guys, here is my question, i have an amateur radio license and so does the mentor of our team, was it allowed to use a hand held amateur radio to communicate between the pits and competition floor between matches in the past years??

[Protronie]

Originally Posted by eshteyn

Hey guys, here is my question, i have an amateur radio license and so does the mentor of our team, was it allowed to use a hand held amateur radio to communicate between the pits and competition floor between matches in the past years??

There is a rule about no walkie talkies ...rather that extends to you handheld ham rigs?
I would think so...

Nice thought .

[chris31]

I think that because it is a wireless communication it isnt. But then again I heard that they used wireless video cameras. So wait till the rules come out.

[IndySam]

3.14.3 Pit and competition Safety
Two-way radios: Not allowed in the Pit or near the playing field since they may interfere with robot operation and cause accidents

[eshteyn]

Originally Posted by IndySam

3.14.3 Pit and competition Safety
Two-way radios: Not allowed in the Pit or near the playing field since they may interfere with robot operation and cause accidents

Even if the radios are of the amateur radio service and work at a much higher frequency than the robot radios?

[Dan Petrovic]

Originally Posted by eshteyn

Even if the radios are of the amateur radio service and work at a much higher frequency than the robot radios?

It's better to be safe than sorry.

[eshteyn]

Originally Posted by InfernoX14

It's better to be safe than sorry.

Point taken, thank you

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by eshteyn

Even if the radios are of the amateur radio service and work at a much higher frequency than the robot radios?

Standard disclaimer applies that all discussion here is based on the rules as they existed in 2006 and prior, which may change this year (though I'd say it's unlikely)...

The rule was as stated above. There were no exceptions mentioned. If it was a two-way radio then it was not allowed, plain and simple.

Now, to provide a little reasoning to that, even if you're using a radio that operates at a different frequency it can still cause interference. All radio transmitters create "harmonics" which are signals at frequencies other than the intended transmit frequency. For example, if you were using a UHF radio around 450MHz, the first harmonic would be right around the frequency in use by our FIRST robots (900MHz). Depending on the power output and quality of the radio, this could easily be enough to cause interference with the radios in use on the robots. The radios we're using are only outputting signals in the milliwatt range, so even a 5W handheld could easily dominate them.

Further, from an administrative point of view, I'm sure FIRST does not want to burden volunteers with having to inspect a two-way radio to ensure that it will not interfere. It's easier to just make a blanket rule disallowing any of them and then the volunteers don't have to understand which frequencies are OK and which aren't, they can simply ask anyone using a radio to stop.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

Standard disclaimer applies that all discussion here is based on the rules as they existed in 2006 and prior, which may change this year (though I'd say it's unlikely)...

The rule was as stated above. There were no exceptions mentioned. If it was a two-way radio then it was not allowed, plain and simple.

That is from this years manual.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by IndySam

That is from this years manual.

Yup, that's right... I forgot that they have already posted the non-game specific stuff.

[Rick TYler]

Would it be legal for us to stretch a string from the coaches' station up into the stands for a tin-can radio? I mean, it's not actually forbidden in the rules...

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

Would it be legal for us to stretch a string from the coaches' station up into the stands for a tin-can radio? I mean, it's not actually forbidden in the rules...

I'm going to guess that it's a tripping hazard, and therefor a safety issue. And once the game rules are announced, it will probably be illegal. There is typically a rule stating something along the lines of "Drive Teams are not allowed special equipment unless they can demonstrate the need for it" (basically only allowing crutches/wheelchairs/etc.).