We some some gearboxes from previous years, and I was wondering if they are legal to use. My interpretation of the rule is Yes, since they have not been modified:
<R29> COTS items from ROBOTS entered in previous FIRST competitions or COTS items that are no longer commercially available may be used under the following conditions:
A. The item must be functionally equivalent to the original condition as delivered from the VENDOR (e.g. a part that has non-functional label markings added would be permitted, but a part that has device-specific mounting holes added would be prohibited), and
B. The item must satisfy ALL applicable 2011 FRC materials/parts use rules.
Brian,
The rule you are quoting has to do with removing parts from previous robots. If it is a COTS item, that was not used on a previous robot, and is still an available COTS part, you may use it as long as all other rules are satisfied. (R30 for instance.)
Al, as I read , the word “or” in its first sentence means that a COTS part that was never used on a ROBOT entered in a previous FIRST competition can be used if it is no longer commercially available, provided that it satisfies the conditions listed subsequently.
When I read this, I interpreted this the same way as Richard did (i.e. old COTS items are still usable, provided they meet all other rules). This is a change from quite a few years ago, when old COTS items were only usable in the current year if they are still available as COTS parts.
The one thing that you do need to watch out for is that the COTS items need to be unmodified. We generally make some sort of custom mounting plate for gearboxes. We always modify and re-fabricate these mounting plates every year – re-using last year’s fabricated mounting plates this year is not permitted.
I interpret it as others have said in this thread: COTS items from previous years that are no longer available (for example, the 36mm Banebots planetary transmission included in the kit from 2007) may be used.
This discussion raised a new question for me, though. We have some of these planetary transmissions laying around and plan on using them. They are currently unmodified. The wording of this rule almost makes it sound like no modifications can be made at all (we were planning on shortening the output shaft). Does anyone else read it this way?
<R29> COTS items from ROBOTS entered in previous FIRST competitions or COTS items that are no longer commercially available may be used under the following conditions:
A. The item must be functionally equivalent to the original condition as delivered from the VENDOR (e.g. a part that has non-functional label markings added would be permitted, but a part that has device-specific mounting holes added would be prohibited), and
B. The item must satisfy ALL applicable 2011 FRC materials/parts use rules.
Just as another FRC participant (I’m not a robot inspector or FIRST representative), my understanding is that you can’t use parts that were modified previously to this build season. However, you can take an old, unmodified (COTS) 2007 Banebots transmission and use that on the 2011 robot. You can also make any modifications you want to that COTS transmission (such as shortening the output shaft), as long as the modifications are made in accordance with the 2011 build schedule, and use it on a 2011 robot.
However, in 2012 if you want to re-use that specific gearbox (which was modified in 2011), you won’t be able to, since the output shaft was modified outside of the 2012 build season.
Richard is correct, I used ‘and’ when it should have been ‘or’.
or is still a COTS item…
But, unmodified COTS items from previous robots may be used under this rule.
Ken, we have to be careful about predicting 2012. Anything is possible…