Operator Interface

[kylelanman]

Our team was misinformed about the rules on shipping. As I was reading the question answer section on the first site I noticed a problem. We did not ship our operator console with the robot. We shipped the robot with bumpers and that is it. According to the Q&A it says that we were suppose to ship the operator console with the robot.

Is there a penalty for not shipping it with the robot?

Will we still be able to compete?

Thanks



Kyle Waremburg

[Ricky Q.]

Originally Posted by kylelanman

Our team was misinformed that about the rules on shipping. As I was reading the question answer section on the first site I noticed a problem. We did not ship our operator console with the robot. We shipped the robot with bumpers and that is it. According to the Q&A it says that we were suppose to ship the operator console with the robot.

Is there a penalty for not shipping it with the robot?

Will we still be able to compete?

Thanks

Kyle Waremburg

You will need to contact FIRST ASAP and inform them of what happened and see what they have to say:

(603) 666-3906 or (800) 871-8326 and hit the option for Team Support.

[seanl]

you should definitely contact first about this. but i think your worst case scenario would be to remake the controller because they wont let you take the controller in. just take some plywood, joysticks and the OI. and you could "fix it" in the fix it window.

[kylelanman]

I am a student on the team so I will notify our teacher tomorrow and have them contact FIRST. If they make us rebuild it we can. We are a pirate themed team and were going to build it in to a treasure chest for cosmetic reasons and didn't realize it was suppose to ship with the robot, so from day one it was a small priority and we figured we could do it after we shipped the robot because it does not affect the performance of the robot in anyway and we simply missed it when reading the rules.

We will contact first about this asap though.

[dtengineering]

I hope this is handled quietly and gracefully, with the understanding that this is a rookie team that made an honest mistake. Your posting this question here is a sure sign both that you care about the rules and want to follow them, and did not intentionally violate the rule in order to build additions or enhancements.

While the rules are spelled out pretty clearly, there are a LOT of them, and even veteran teams sometimes make mistakes.

Your honesty in this regard is to be commended. It would have been easy to "cover up" this error and sneak your control board into the competition along with your tools and spare parts. Hopefully FIRST can find an appropriate way to ensure that this mistake does not diminish your experience this year, while still respecting the inegretity of the shipping deadline rules.

Jason

[KTorak]

Honestly, has anyone ever watched teams come into the pit to uncrate the robot and setup? So many teams walk in with their OI in their hands. I'm not saying it's right to do, but many teams simply bring it with them. Though, personally, I can't see how it matters either way, but we ship it with the robot anyways.

[RyanN]

I know we, Team Fusion, don't like to send our OI in the crate because we are worried about it getting damaged during transit, since it won't fit on the floor, and we don't have the room to put in on the shelf. What we ended up doing this year is simply screwing it to the wall, and velcroing our remote control to the robot's backup battery mounting velcro.

My recommendation is to call FIRST to see what they say. As a rookie mistake, I'm sure they will understand, and not disqualify you just because you forgot to ship a part.

[JoshD]

I know this year we didn't have our control board finished, so we sent the OI and the controllers in the crate in a box. Will we be able to use the control board we made after ship date?

[seanl]

Originally Posted by RyanN

velcroing our remote control to the robot's backup battery mounting velcro.

am i missing something here? i thought we didn't have to ship our robocoach remote.

[pheadxdll]

Last year we forgot to ship the OI and we were able to ship it in a separate box. When we got to our pit, everything arrived and was fine.

[RyanN]

Originally Posted by seanl

am i missing something here? i thought we didn't have to ship our robocoach remote.

This was answered by the Q&A Forum at usfirst.org:

Posted by FRC1618 at 01/11/2008 06:21:21 pm
One of <R65>'s bullet points says that robots shall "not receive any input or feedback directly
from the ROBOT (the ROBOCOACH may receive feedback from the ROBOT and use it to
control the SIGNALING DEVICE)". Would it be permissible for a robot to receive one
command from the RoboCoach, then signal the RoboCoach for a second/third/Nth command
(that may or may not be the same as prior commands) to execute directly after the first
provided that all commands are on the signaling card as defined in <G49>?
Also, no part of the manual seems to define whether the signaling device is, for shipping and
other related matters, part of the robot. However, the fact that the other key robot control
mechanism (the operator console) is considered part of the robot makes one ponder: is the
signaling device considered part of the robot?

Re: Confirming applications and legalities of signaling devices
Posted by GDC at 01/16/2008 12:32:42 am
Yes, provided that no more than four different commands are included on the Signaling Card
and sent to the Robot.
For shipping purposes, the Signaling Device is considered part of the Robot, and must be
shipped with the Robot (just as with other parts of the Operator Interface system).

I'm sure it's not a big deal either... if it is, just go to a store Thursday of the regional and buy a cheap $10 that will work.