Mini-bot Hinges

[baroneje]

Are the mini-bots allowed to use hinges like door hinges, etc. to use as doors that close up around the pole?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by baroneje

Are the mini-bots allowed to use hinges like door hinges, etc. to use as doors that close up around the pole?

Not if they aren't in <R92>, and I don't see "hinges" in there.

However, using aluminum, hardware, and maybe some surgical tubing or something, I'm sure you could rig up some form of hinge substitute.

[baroneje]

Are you allowed to mill them out of aluminum since the rules allow the use of sheet aluminum?

[DonRotolo]

I don't see why not.

[J.Warsoff]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

I don't see why not.

yea i dont see why not either, Don. btw, i might want to use some kind of hinge in the prototype ive been working on, so hopefully i can get that going. i may need some help though

[StevenB]

Originally Posted by EricH

Not if they aren't in <R92>, and I don't see "hinges" in there.

As you mentioned, <R92> part S allows "Mechanical hardware (i.e. screws, bolts, etc). Pending clarification in the Q&A, I wouldn't completely rule out hinges as hardware. The hardware store calls them hardware, and you find them stocked pretty close to the screws and bolts.
See this thread for more discussion.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by StevenB

As you mentioned, <R92> part S allows "Mechanical hardware (i.e. screws, bolts, etc). Pending clarification in the Q&A, I wouldn't completely rule out hinges as hardware. The hardware store calls them hardware, and you find them stocked pretty close to the screws and bolts.
See this thread for more discussion.

But being close is not being equal. 5 is close to 4...

The specific examples in the rule tend to point towards fasteners, not springs and hinges (motion parts, we could call them).

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by baroneje

Are the mini-bots allowed to use hinges like door hinges, etc. to use as doors that close up around the pole?

As long as it's made out of allowable parts, then yes.

Check out McMaster part #1635A24. It's a 100% polycarbonate hinge, and thus should be legal.

[BJT]

Update#3 seems to rule out hinges on the minibot. you could make one, but purchasing a pre-made hinge, regardless of material, seems to be out. right?

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by BJT

Update#3 seems to rule out hinges on the minibot. you could make one, but purchasing a pre-made hinge, regardless of material, seems to be out. right?

What of Team Update 3 makes purchasing premade parts illegal?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

What of Team Update 3 makes purchasing premade parts illegal?

If they aren't Tetrix, and they aren't specifically listed (which the parts in question--hinges--are not), then you either have to make your own or go without. Team Update 3 removed all ambiguity on the "hardware" point by changing "hardware" to "fasteners".

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by EricH

If they aren't Tetrix, and they aren't specifically listed (which the parts in question--hinges--are not), then you either have to make your own or go without. Team Update 3 removed all ambiguity on the "hardware" point by changing "hardware" to "fasteners".

But the hinges are made exclusively of materials found on the list of allowed parts. Why is it suddenly required that you hand make them if they are literally just shaped versions of what is allowed?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

But the hinges are made exclusively of materials found on the list of allowed parts. Why is it suddenly required that you hand make them if they are literally just shaped versions of what is allowed?

Ask the GDC.

I think many door hinges are steel, though. Steel isn't allowed... so you'd have to find aluminum ones. Or the polycarb ones listed earlier. Assuming, of course, that the GDC allows non-team-manufactured hardware that isn't otherwise legal.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by EricH

Ask the GDC.

I think many door hinges are steel, though. Steel isn't allowed... so you'd have to find aluminum ones. Or the polycarb ones listed earlier. Assuming, of course, that the GDC allows non-team-manufactured hardware that isn't otherwise legal.

What I was trying to say is that Team Update 3 does not require that teams are the group that fabricated said materials - if the items are made from things exclusively from that list they are legal.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

What I was trying to say is that Team Update 3 does not require that teams are the group that fabricated said materials - if the items are made from things exclusively from that list they are legal.

The GDC has not said that teams can go out and buy their X Minibot material pre-formed into final form. They have said that the team can machine said materials. If I were to go out and buy VEX metal (aluminum), I might have a hard time passing inspection as the rules stand. But I can go out and buy aluminum and machine it into VEX metal, and I'd get some funny looks but would probably pass inspection.

There's another way to look at this: Where, on the list of allowed materials, do you find COTS parts? Parts A-E (Tetrix/FTC), I, K-N, P, S, U, X, Y, AA, BB. All the other parts are going to require some modification. Rope, wire, tape, velcro, PVC, and loctite are all going to need to be removed from their containers or cut to length or otherwise worked with. Aluminum and polycarb will need to be cut and shaped and otherwise moved from raw material (the COTS form) to fabricated item.

I don't necessarily like it either, but that's the way the rules are currently written and interpreted. If that's not the way they should be written, then the GDC needs to change that--and I happen not to have access to ask that sort of question on Q&A.