I was thinking of having our team’s robot play a small sound byte at the beginning of each round (e.g. the La Cucaracha car horn sound). The 2022 Game Manual states that it is illegal to have “speakers, sirens, air horns, or other audio devices that generate sound at a level sufficient to be a distraction,” on the robot.
I was wondering what exactly qualifies as a sound level that is “sufficient to be a distraction?” I expect the noise to get drowned out by the FRC music that is playing, but I think it would be fun to have during practice.
Given how vague the rule is, I expect you would see volunteers who are strict to the point of ruling out any sounds, and you’ll have ones that are much more lax.
If I was making the call, I would put the limit at “anything audible by the opposing alliance”. Personally, I would just leave the device at home during competition, and just attach it for the off-season so it’s there for demos. That avoids the judgement call by the volunteers completely.
Robots artificially making noise I think will come under scrutiny like Jon says.
Though our robot had some natural noise makers this year. The shooter being pneumatically loaded had a distinctly loud noise when actuating you could clearly hear in the stands. And the spring-loaded hold hooks for the climber were nearly as loud when they snapped back in place to be able to hook the bar.
Anyways, both those could give useful feedback of how many shots were fired or if the climb could proceed, although I don’t know how well it was heard behind the glass.