Exposed gears/chain

[pacoliketaco]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been super active in the FIRST community since I graduated in '09, but in the 6 seasons since then (and especially at the PGH regional this past weekend) I've noticed more and more robots have exposed gears or sprockets/chains. I'm curious as to how this is legal; back when I was competing it was very important that these pinch points be covered, to some extent. And speaking from personal experience when I caught a finger between a moving sprocket and chain, why is this no longer a concern? On a very large number of robots I've seen, I could walk right up, and stick a finger or get caught in exposed gears, with zero protection around them. I understand it saves weight to not cover them, but at the expense of safety? Just seems a little odd to me.