Does anyone know if the bumpers are included in the volume size, or if they can be excluded and the frame size of the robot is the considered volume?
Read rule R03 VERY carefully:
Emphasis mine.
EDIT: Moved this to a separate thread and stickied to increase visibility.
And please, we all (including the GDC in Update #6) implore you:
Use the search feature before asking questions.
On CD, it’s in the orange bar near the top of the page. On Q&A, it’s that fill-in box by the green button. In the Manual itself, CTRL-F will bring up a search function.
I am bummed about the number of robots that will come to competition this year unable to compete at all. Some years, overweight robots need to get Swiss cheesed, or lose a mechanism. Some years, bumpers need to be reconstructed. How does a team recover when they need to lose ~6" on both X and Y? And then rebuild the bumpers?
I hadn’t actually thought about this, but upon reflection this does seem very likely.
1678 is planning an emergency triage team to help teams that show up with such robots. I really do pray that they won’t be needed.
Someone should bring kitbot frames if they have any laying around.
OP is potentially trying to win that AndyMark prize in a creative way.
Hmmm, we do…
What’s the rules about bringing something like that in? Is it like part of the allocated weight for parts or no?
Since it’s assembled, it’s gotta be bagged or withholding allowance. If unassembled (e.g. still in the box), then doesn’t count for weight.
What state do AM14u’s and what not ship in as far as being a COTS part?
If they’re completely unmodified, they’re cots and you can bring in as many as you can fit in your pit. Any parts that are assembled or cut are a fabricated assembly and would count against withholding allowance. If you disassemble the frame, then any unmodified parts are cots, modified parts are still withholding. We don’t want you bringing in ready made bots for allies or anyone else, no matter how well intentioned.
That is trolling, in the most classic sense. Well played OP.
Bagged would work.
I agree that a fully built robot should not be brought as spare, but a fully assembled kitbot frame minus electronics that you bag with your normal robot works within the rules. It saves any team in dire need of a frame several hours of assembly that can be used to transfer mechanisms from their robot and their whole electronics system.
Huh… alright. We’ll maybe bring one or two assembled kitbots to SF and SVR if it has the potential to help out some rookies.
R21. At an Event, Teams may have access to a WITHHOLDING ALLOWANCE. The WITHHOLDING ALLOWANCE is a static set of FABRICATED ITEMS that shall not exceed 30 lbs. (~13 kg.), brought to an event (or ROBOT Access Period) in addition to the bagged items, to be used to repair and/or upgrade their ROBOT. With permission from another Team, Teams may also have access to FABRCATED ITEMS that are part of that other Team’s WITHOLDING ALLOWANCE to repair and/or upgrade their ROBOT. The WITHHOLDING ALLOWANCE may only be brought into the Venue when the Team initially loads in at the Event. Items made at an Event do not count towards this weight limit.
There’s nothing here about using fabricated items which were in another team’s bag, only their withholding allowance. The bag rules don’t explicitly say that parts of the robot have to be put in that team’s bag, but the use of “their robot” and “your robot” throughout R15 to R20 sure makes it read like this is the case.
Edit: Q360 asked.
There’s a good Q&A. I can see the ruling going against handing another team bagged parts because why not bag a practice robot and give your third pick a twin? This also has interesting implications for cheesecake climbers…
So who’s asking this Q&A? I don’t have a login to pester the GDC anymore, so I can’t.
We did this by a few inches width wise last year at our first competition. Not fun. Not fun at all. Something about the bumpers on our front not being at least six inches. This required tearing off about half of the stuff on our robot.
You could loan COTS stuff to the Spare Parts table …
This should be in the weekly updates from now until week 1 events. The ramifications of not following this will make it very tough for everyone on practice day! Time to bring our spare AMU kits.:ahh:
Unfortunately, if they didn’t read the rules, it’s unlikely that they will read the updates.
We’ve had size changes before - didn’t the total size go down when they switched to measuring the perimeter? And there was a year where your height changed per your weight. (Although I admit that’s easier to fix than the horizontal sizes.)
And teams have shown up oversize before, with or without a size change. Or have had totally out of compliance moving frame parts. Even a team that showed up with their original kit of parts, nothing built. And they get to compete after a lot of good assistance from other teams in the pits.