1519 - One Dual-Config Robot or Two Robots?

[GaryVoshol]

Ken, I think you've spent too much time in FLL. There, clearly the "Robot" is the NXT or RCX brain, and anything else you attach to it. Since you didn't bring an illegal quantity of motors to the "table" at any time, you meet the FLL rules.

I find the definition of "ROBOT" to be somewhat circular:

ROBOT: Anything that has passed ROBOT inspection that a TEAM places on the TRACK prior to the start of a MATCH.

(From the "Game" section of the rules no less, not the "Robot" section.) The inspectors get to decide what a ROBOT is as part of their ROBOT inspection. Clearly there has to be a better definition of what constitutes the minimal number of parts that make up a ROBOT. And that definition has to be very carefully worded - what is a "base" or "frame"? are "wheels" absolutely necessary? etc.

If it's any consolation, 1519 has earned itself a unique place in FIRST - the generation of a new rule in next year's manual.