<G40>

[Jon Stratis]

AllenGregoryIV - In the past, that portion of <R11> has been there for the purposes of inspection - it makes sense to have teams remove their bumpers and batteries prior to weighing and sizing the robot. And this year, that includes the minibot.

Now, how does this apply to the starting configuration? Well, lets think about the battery. Is it legal to design a robot so the battery sticks out over the bumpers? If you tried that, I think just about any ref, inspector, or judge would have a fit. I would use this same common sense as it applies to the minibot - in the starting configuration, the only thing that should be outside your frame perimeter is the bumpers (and associated mounting hardware as may be allowed per <R07>). The Minibot should start out completely within your frame perimeter.

I think the original question in the thread is valid, and not entirely clear in the rules. Logically, you would expect the host bot and minibot to be considered separate entities after deployment, allowing you to move away from the tower, but the rules don't make that clarification. Rather, the rules only specify that the ROBOT is both of them combined, and they have to stay within the 60"(213.4cm) diameter vertical right cylindrical volume.