Judgement Call on specific part.

[Xenozero]

Alright, I need a little help here. My team plans to use a purchased lint roller to mount to a part of the robot to assist in retrieving the trackballs. Would this part be legal considering it has adhesive tape on it and uses it. Help is much appreciated.

[Jon K.]

My first reaction would be no it's illegal but check with FIRST. Also look into other grippy materials like those no slip pads for cell phones or mousepad material or the no slip mesh that is used to line shelves especially for RV's.

[EricH]

My first reaction is illegal, but I'm pretty sure that's partly because this is the first suggestion of this type I've seen. The relevant rule is <R38>.

<R38> Adhesive backed tapes shall not be used as a structural fastener, or to connect two or more parts together. Adhesive backed tapes may only be used as follows:
 Textured or coated tapes may be used to provide an alternate surface finish or treatment to a portion of the ROBOT.
 Velcro tape, any hook and loop tape or double-sided sticky foam may be used for attaching components to the ROBOT.
 Reflective tape may be used with optical sensors in small amounts.
 Adhesive backed tape and labels may be used for labeling purposes on wires, cables, pneumatic lines, etc.
 Electrical tape may be used as an electrical insulator.

So it looks borderline.

<R06> also may be brought into play, but I don't know if it will be.

use an anti-skid pad like Jon said. The type that are under welcome mats and mattresses and such.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Xenozero

Alright, I need a little help here. My team plans to use a purchased lint roller to mount to a part of the robot to assist in retrieving the trackballs. Would this part be legal considering it has adhesive tape on it and uses it. Help is much appreciated.

If this is important to your design in any way, shape, or form (and based on your question, I suspect that it is), then you will want to be very careful about how you have this question answered. The very best advice any of us can give you is: ignore every answer provided here, and proceed directly to the official FIRST Q&A system. Do not pass "Go", do not stop to collect $200, and do not accept any unofficial answers. None of the answers provided here will be accepted by an inspector or referee that may challenge your use of the material. And this is one area where, if you choose to use the lint-roller material, you will definitely want to have an official "okey dokey" in hand when you go through inspection.

-dave