2024 Robot and Inspection Rules changes

Competition Rules/Strategy
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My annual Robot and Inspection rules changes topic. As before, I will make this a wiki. My first pass will be things I notice on my first reading, and I will update with a more in-depth later this afternoon, and through the season. Feel free to DM me with corrections to keep the topic easy to read, especially on kickoff day.
Added ~kickoff + 6 hours, updated kickoff + 8 hrs: I’ve dredged through the R&I rules. I will note changes to R & I rule numbers, but not chapter, section, figure, or table numbers. I will also ignore replacing GAME PIECE with NOTE, CHARGED UP with CRESCENDO, VISION TARGETS with 36h11 April Tags, or inconsequential changes to formatting or wording that don’t change meaning. If the rephrasing is more than a word or two but appears to be inconsequential, I’ll note it but not dive in.
Changes in Team Updates will be in bold face.

Game rules affecting ROBOT design:

  • G403 & G409: 1 NOTE at a time. The title tells it. G403 for AUTO, G409 for TELEOP.
  • G413: No exceptions to max height of 4 feet or extension of 1 foot beyond frame perimeter.
  • G414: No full-court shots - that is, you can’t shoot to your own WING if your bumpers are partially in your opponent’s WING.

ROBOT rules changes

  • R104: Starting Configuration - the FRAME PERIMETER continues at 120", the start height is now 4ft (48" or 121cm) tall.

  • R105: ROBOT extension limit. 12" (30 cm) this year.

  • Nothing this year about extending multiple directions at the same time, so it’s OK. Images updated.

  • R106: ROBOTS can’t choke up on chain. A game specific rule.

  • R401: BUMPERS all around. Just what it says. You can have gaps up to 1/2", but otherwise, full bumpers this year.

  • R402 BUMPERS must stay low. BUMPER ZONE is again carpet and up by 7.5".

  • R406: Team number on BUMPERS. The 60ft away criterion on reading bumper numbers is new, but I don’t see any change in what it really means. There is now a requirement that digits may not be split by more than 2 inches, in line with R401 so the number is ambiguous.

  • R408-C Added Pool noodles may be attached together using soft fasteners like tape, provided the physical properties of the BUMPER are not significantly altered.

  • R408-C, blue box: Pool noodles measuring 2.125" to 2.75" diameter are now allowed, more slack at the small end, making it easier to source noodles at the dollar store.

  • R408-D, blue box. Non-woven materials such as leather and pleather are now explicitly not fabrics.

  • R409: Figure 8-7 updated to clarify that noodles may be bent around the corner of the bumper as in previous years.

  • R501 additional motors: NEO Vortex, WCP Kraken.

    • Electrical solenoid actuator power increased to 50W continuous duty (from 10W), and the 1" stroke limit was removed. COTS added

  • R502 Only 4 propulsion motors: New rule we knew was coming. This insertion forced change to all the later R5 rule numbers. I will use the new rule numbers.

  • R503: Spark Flex motor controller added, as well as the WCP part number for Talon FX. Also you can remove the 10-32 plug screws from Kraken X60 as well as Falcon.

  • R504 Talon FX is legal on Kraken X60 as well as Falcon 500.

  • R505 NEO Vortex and WCP Kraken X60 added. Curiously, Kraken is in the table with the brushless and NEO motors, not those with integrated controllers. Strikeout corrected.

  • R601: the blue box clarifies that “nut and bolt style” refers to any style battery terminal where the connector is secured to the battery using a threaded fastener as of TU08.

  • R602: USB Battery packs can now provide up to 5A per port, up from 2.5A. Coin cell batteries to power CMOS and RTC features of COTS computing devices are now allowed. TU14 did not change the rule, but Q177 clarified that just because a battery pack COULD put out more than 5V or 5A per port, it would be legal if it wasn’t enabled. The burden of proof of this is on the team.

  • R604: Maximum battery charge rate is now 6 Amps average, not 6 amps peak.

  • R612 [Main Breaker accessibility], Blue box: “easily found by FIELD STAFF during a MATCH” replaced with “easily found by FIELD STAFF if needed”, and a sentence added: “While the main breaker must be accessible, consider positioning or shielding it such that it’s protected from accidental actuation (e.g. it’s unlikely to be hit by a NOTE during game play).”

  • R615 [Powering RIO] Removed the sentence “No other electrical load shall be connected to that channel.”

  • R621, Table 8-3, which specifies protection for different types of branch circuits, Fuse was added to the column heading along with circuit breaker in TU08. Added Servo Power Module with up to 20A breaker or fuse

  • R622 Kraken x60 Powerpole adapter protected circuits added to 22AWG list.

  • R625 Fixed reference to R710

  • R701 Control the ROBOT with a roboRIO - version updated to 2024_v3.1 2024.2.1 or later.

  • R710 Restating of bullet S, replacing terminal blocks. Also added Servo Power Module.

  • R710 N. the cover may be removed from the Talon SRX or Talon FX data port.

  • R710-R adding insulating material to exposed conductors on PDH/PDP breakers and fuses

  • R710 T. tape may be applied for debris protection

  • R8*, Pneumatics: bar has been added to the list of pressures translated from psi, in addition to kPa.

  • R810 The pressure gauges may be marked in bars rather than psi or kPa.
    *R814 [reworded, same meaning] Don’t connect solenoid outputs together. The outputs from multiple solenoid valves must not be plumbed together.

  • Added to Intro to section 9: The LRI may consult with additional sources including the Chief LRIs and/or FIRST personnel before making their final decision.

  • R901 Use the specified Driver Station Software: version 24.1 24.0 or newer. ** [24.0.2 is available and optional. It fixes an error reporting diagnostics to the Field Monitor at events]**

  • R904D [Operator Console field attachment]: reworded, but same meaning as far as I can see.

INSPECTION rules changes

  • I104 This sentence was removed: “A ROBOT that plays in a MATCH with an un-inspected modification may be retro-actively DISQUALIFIED at the discretion of the LRI and Head REFEREE.”
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This has me at a bit of a loss are you allowed to extend higher than the 48" limit at any point?

In the game animation at this point(0:27) shows a robot reaching above that limit seeing that the bottom of the trap is at 4’8.5"

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The limit is calculated to the floor.

A robot on the chain can reach above 48".

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The game animation may or may not feature legal robots or gameplay. It is intended only for use as a broad description of the game - if you look closely at past animations, you’ll likely be able to find items that are likely illegal as well - one of the blue robots in last year’s animation looked too tall to me, for example.

17 Likes
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Is there a specific rule you can point to for this?

After looking some more I think they show a closeup of the robot in end-game scoring at 0:27 so really it might be lower than the 48" overall, then after climbing above.

6

Yes. It’s in the Blue Box.

7

I guess my question wasn’t worded well, I interpreted what you said as a robot up on a chain could reach above that 48" limit. so my robot is 48" then I can reach another X amount above that.

Climbing on the chain would increase your height however high you climbed.

8

Ah.

The better way to put it is: Robots over 48" tall are penalized. 48" is measured from the bottom of the robot, whether that’s on the floor or on the chain.

When the robot isn’t on the chain, 48" is from the floor.

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9

So I’m part of a 2nd year team. I’m curious if there is a size minimum for the robot or only a max. My team wants to create a smaller bot this year but we don’t know how small we can build other than the three recommendations in the chassis manual.

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There’s no specific minimum size.

However, there are certain required components that need to be in there, and a robot that is too small/light will have some interesting issues for both scoring and robot interaction.

11

Tysm

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I decided to avoid commentary on my OP, but give my opinions in a reply. Generally positive, just a couple of head scratchers.

  • R401 [Bumpers all around] is the first one I have something to say, and it is a definite positive. I’ve helped design and build robots with bumper gaps, but it was always an understood risk to assist in taking in game pieces or other manipulation. Corner bumpers by default was a bad decision ten years ago, and it’s only gotten worse in the post-CIM era, especially as poorly made corner bumpers are significantly worse than poorly made bracket bumpers or poorly made drop on bumpers.

  • R408C [smaller noodles allowed]: Definitely a win for low resource teams who get noodles at the dollar store. I’m for it as it is mitigated by full wrap bumpers.

  • R408D [non-woven materials] It’s what’s happened lately, good to have it in the rules.

  • R612 [Main Breaker Accessibility]. Spot on. Main breakers are never disabled during a MATCH, as no people are on the field. And I’ve suggested covering exposed breaker buttons to a number of teams over the years. @Breakaway3937 can vouch for that; I suggested it at Rock City 2019, he told the team to do it as, in his words, “not an inspection thing, but a smart thing”. They didn’t, and wound up dead on the field because they’d dropped a hatch panel onto their main breaker button.

  • R615: [Powering RIO] Removed the sentence “No other electrical load shall be connected to that channel.” ??? I hope that wasn’t intentional, or is covered by a rule somewhere else.

  • I104 [uninspected modification]: I’m not sure how I feel about this. Retroactive disqualification is a serious thing, and it shouldn’t be used lightly. I’d rather have seen some egregious type language, especially for disqualification of more than one match.

  • On R105 and G413-B (12" extension), I’d have probably gone with 16", but 12" seems workable. I could be wrong, but I think that with one game piece teams have to have a floor pickup to be competitive this year. No bumper breaks, so subtract 3.5", leaving 8.5" in which to work for pickup. NOTES are 2 inches thick with a 10 inch outside diameter. This means that you can’t touch the outside edge of the NOTE. I distrust ramp style pickups, and I haven’t watched a single frame of any RI3D yet, but I expect the archetypical floor pickup of the year will be 2" or smaller rollers or wheels spinning in reverse of the robot’s drive wheels, a quarter to half an inch off the floor. This will lift the leading edge of the note up, and into a counter-rotating roller or wheels an inch and a half or thereabouts above. I suspect scoring in the speaker will be with rollers, and putting notes in the amp will be an articulated place and drop.

OBTW, Why are they all whole notes? [something mostly the music geeks will get].

Bottom line: rollers will rule. Elevators, lifts, and Pink arms, not so much.

Caveat: I’ve been wrong more often than I’ve been right on this.

Added: I also expect tiny robots. Game piece 10" across, no bumper gaps allowed, moderately congested field, and the possibility of not just harmony but a chord [3 robots on the same chain] if robots are small enough?
-Gus

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It’s actually 10” inside diameter. The outer diameter is 14” which is still pretty small

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Did you reference the correct rule number? R615 is wiring of the RoboRIO and looks identical to last year.

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Right rule. The sentence “No other electrical load shall be connected to that channel” was removed. I had put it in one version of my notes and somehow removed it when I added the comment.

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If I am reading this right I think this is big. I know there was some talk about allowing small battery banks for coprocessors and such. At the same time, I could totally be misunderstanding this rule.

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Among other things, the animation bots don’t have bumpers.

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Ah, okay. That case is covered by R625.

19

Is it? Putting a light load in parallel with the RIO power wires would constitute putting on the power pathway between elements of the Robot Control System (in this case PDP/PDH and RoboRIO), but similar to the cases in both the rule and the blue box, might be considered indirect or inconsequential. Granted, R625 DOES (as I read it) prevent you from putting a big capacitor, battery, or other backup power solution.

20

R625 allows “inconsequential” only for voltage/current monitoring. Anything else (a light load that is not doing just voltage/current monitoring) would be considered a custom circuit and disallowed. It might be worth asking a Q&A about this, but I’m confident the intent has not changed from prior years.