Batteries Carried Into Competitions

[Chris Fultz]

There are a few new questions that have been posted in the Q+A regarding batteries. Go to the forums for the specific questions, but the answers are below. That this means is that if you are going to carry in batteries -

1. if they are assembled (connectors added) - then they count as part of your withholding allowance

2. if they are not assembled, they are COTS items and do not count against your withholding allowance.

1: Spare batteries, in their unmodified form (i.e. WITHOUT connectors or battery leads installed) would be considered COTS items. COTS items may be brought to the competition events in unlimited quantities, under Rule <R35>. Batteries that have leads and connectors attached would be MECHANISMS and FABRICATED ITEMS, and would fall under the corresponding constraints. Therefore:
a : yes, this is a FABRICATED ITEM
b : if it is hand-carried to an event, then it must be factored into the WITHHOLDING ALLOWANCE

2: For the purposes of the FIRST Robotics Competition, just cycling a battery through charge/discharge cycles will not be considered a modification of the battery. Therefore, it may still be considered a COTS item (assuming it has not been assembled into a MECHANISM as described above).

3: For the purposes of the FIRST Robotics Competition, if the battery has been assembled into a MECHANISM for use during the build season that is later disassembled into the original COMPONENTS, then the battery may still be considered a COTS item.