No arms allowed?

[hihihiflcl81pig]

8.3.2 General Robot Design
<R11>At the start of, and during, the MATCH the ROBOT shall fit within the dimensions listed below:
Maximum Width : 28 inches (71.12cm)
Maximum Depth : 38 inches (96.52cm)
Maximum Height : 60 inches (152.40cm)
Maximum Weight : 120 pounds (54.43Kg)

What I get from this is that you can't have an arm reach out of your bot, nor can you be exactly at the weight limit since if your bot does carry a ball than it would be over the limit during the match.

[smurfgirl]

As far as the weight goes, you can be at 120.00 lbs at inspection. Go over 120 lbs and that's a bad thing. The balls do not count towards robot weight; it is the robot, less the official bumpers and battery that get weighed upon inspection. If your robot suspiciously seemed to grow a bit, they might call you back for re-inspection, but the balls are not an issue.

As far as the arm goes, you are correct. You cannot have an arm that extends beyond your bumper zone, as per Update 1 today:

2) The Game Design Committee would like to elaborate on the restriction about robot size during match play. Specifically, it’s important to read and understand the statement in Rule <R08>, referring to the bumpers:

“…If implemented as intended, a ROBOT that is driven into a vertical wall in any normal PLAYING CONFIGURATION will always have the BUMPER be the first thing to contact the wall.”

This rule restricts any arms, mechanisms, hoods, etc from extending beyond the BUMPER PERIMETER. Among other things, some associated intentions of this rule are to prevent teams from having manipulators which extend outside the BUMPER PERIMETER, and to prevent teams from being able to de-score game pieces or block/disrupt trailers. While the current belief is that rule changes or additions are not
needed to prevent such robot behavior, if teams are pursue this type of strategy by employing a loophole, or by other means, an amendment to the rules will be made.

[hihihiflcl81pig]

But then to counter that the balls are not included in the weight there is this from the manual

8.3.2 General Robot Design
<R11> ....
A.
Exception: solely for the purposes of determining compliance with the weight and volume limitations, these items are NOT considered part of the ROBOT and are NOT included in the weight and volume assessment:
•The 12V battery and its associated half of the Anderson cable quick connect/disconnect pair (including no more than 12 inches of cable per leg, the associated cable lugs, connecting bolts, and insulating electrical tape),
•BUMPER assemblies that are in compliance with Rule <R08>,
•The TRAILER,
•The OPERATOR CONSOLE.

None of that states the game ball, so the Ref could possible call that your bot be weight with balls on it in the middle of a round, putting you over the weight limit (If you ever got that close). I'm not worried about the bot ever getting that close, I'm more worried about the rule stating that we can't have anything reaching out from our bot, stopping us from building an arm.

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by hihihiflcl81pig

But then to counter that the balls are not included in the weight there is this from the manual

8.3.2 General Robot Design
<R11> ....
A.
Exception: solely for the purposes of determining compliance with the weight and volume limitations, these items are NOT considered part of the ROBOT and are NOT included in the weight and volume assessment:
•The 12V battery and its associated half of the Anderson cable quick connect/disconnect pair (including no more than 12 inches of cable per leg, the associated cable lugs, connecting bolts, and insulating electrical tape),
•BUMPER assemblies that are in compliance with Rule <R08>,
•The TRAILER,
•The OPERATOR CONSOLE.

None of that states the game ball, so the Ref could possible call that your bot be weight with balls on it in the middle of a round, putting you over the weight limit (If you ever got that close). I'm not worried about the bot ever getting that close, I'm more worried about the rule stating that we can't have anything reaching out from our bot, stopping us from building an arm.

The game pieces are not part of the robot weight, I promise. When they weigh you in at inspection, there aren't going to be any game pieces around. These are never considered to be part of your robot. They're always referred to as separate entities, as suggested through the manual, such as in:

POSSESSION: Controlling the position and movement of a GAME PIECE while the GAME PIECE is supported or captured by an ALLIANCE. A GAME PIECE shall be considered “supported” by a ROBOT if in the estimation of a reasonably astute observer the majority of the weight of the GAME PIECE is being borne by the ROBOT. A GAME PIECE shall be considered “captured” by a ROBOT if, as the ROBOT moves or changes orientation (e.g. backs up or spins in place), the GAME PIECE remains in approximately the same position relative to the ROBOT. Both the “supported” and “captured” conditions include the case where the GAME PIECE is also in contact with the floor.

If there were a question about robot weight, you would be taken to be inspected, where you would have to remove your bumpers and battery. No one's going to bring a scale onto the field and stick you on it, balls and all.

Originally Posted by hihihiflcl81pig

I'm more worried about the rule stating that we can't have anything reaching out from our bot, stopping us from building an arm.

This you really can't do, because of the clarification I posted from Update 1, above. The bolded and underlined statement should be sufficient proof.

You've still got 41 days and nearly 7 hours until ship; this should be sufficient time to rethink your team's strategy and design. Be creative, but try to think inside the [bumper perimeter] box.