YMTC: did Team Blueabot cook the books?

[Richard Wallace]

(Apologies to Natchez for unauthorized use of the YMTC theme.)

Team Blueabot is one of 10 FRC teams receiving support from Blueasponsor Inc.

Blueasponsor produces large quantities of several popular robot-making materials and allocates some of its inventory to the teams they sponsor. These materials are also made by other companies, and are available from several distributors such as FW Grainger, McMaster-Carr, Ch33pstuff.com and others. The materials are LIGHTSTUFF, STRONGSTUFF, and COOLSTUFF.

All the distributors offer these materials in the same minimum order quantities. Ch33pstuff.com has the lowest distributor prices, which are as follows:

LIGHTSTUFF is available in one pound bags. A single bag costs $300. If you buy 10 or more bags then each bag costs $200.

STRONGSTUFF is available in 1/2" diameter x 36" long rods. A single rod costs $300. If you buy 10 or more rods then each rod costs $200.

COOLSTUFF is available in several sheet sizes, all of which are 3/8" thick. The smallest sheet available is 12" x 12" and costs $400 for a single sheet, or $250 each if you buy 10 or more sheets. A 24" x 24" sheet costs $1000 for a single sheet, or $600 each if you buy 10 or more sheets.

Blueasponsor sends each of its teams 5 bags of LIGHTSTUFF, 6 rods of STRONGSTUFF, and one 24" x 24" sheet of COOLSTUFF.

To build Blueabot, the team uses all of its LIGHTSTUFF, four rods of STRONGSTUFF, and two 5" diameter parts cut from COOLSTUFF, plus $499 worth of sprockets and chains that they buy with some of the money they raise by holding a car wash and a pancake breakfast. All other materials used to build Blueabot come from the 2005 FRC kit-of-parts.

At inspection, Team Blueabot presents a cost accounting sheet that looks like this:

LIGHTSTUFF 5 lb. x $200/bag = $1000
STRONGSTUFF 4 rods x $200/rod = $800
COOLSTUFF one 12"x12" sheet x $250/sheet = $250
Other stuff (chains and sprockets) $499
TOTAL cost of non-kit materials $2549

You are the robot inspector. Did Team Blueabot comply with the 2005 FRC cost accounting rules? Does Blueabot pass inspection?

Citing the appropriate rules, you make the call.