paper: Servo Power Worksheet

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by apalrd

I don't know why FRC specifies the formula they do, it's wrong.

I suspect it's because the servo manufacturers are lying cretins. There's no excuse for a manufacturer making that misrepresentation: it's either deliberate or negligent.

FIRST should definitely make the rule based on the actual power rating, and then include a brief explanatory note in the rules. This is conservative, from a competition point of view, because the team that blindly accepts the manufacturer's rating won't exceed the specified (real) power limit. Teams that read and understand the rule and explanatory note will benefit from the use of servos right up to the real power limit.

(Incidentally, this is a dead-simple change. I wonder if FIRST has frozen the rules yet for 2013, or if straightforward improvements are still possible? Perhaps we should inquire?)

[Ed Sparks]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

I suspect it's because the servo manufacturers are lying cretins. There's no excuse for a manufacturer making that misrepresentation: it's either deliberate or negligent.

FIRST should definitely make the rule based on the actual power rating, and then include a brief explanatory note in the rules. This is conservative, from a competition point of view, because the team that blindly accepts the manufacturer's rating won't exceed the specified (real) power limit. Teams that read and understand the rule and explanatory note will benefit from the use of servos right up to the real power limit.

(Incidentally, this is a dead-simple change. I wonder if FIRST has frozen the rules yet for 2013, or if straightforward improvements are still possible? Perhaps we should inquire?)

I should have stated that this assumes that FIRST will still allow servos in 2013 and they define the max power the same as prior years.