I’m mostly inquiring as to the meaning of COTS. I’ve heard the term thrown around but was unable to find a definite meaning for it in searches. I’ve also heard multiple different ideas as to whether or not it was counted in the 30 lb weight limit that we can carry in. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
COTS = Commercial Off The Shelf
Stuff that anyone can go out and buy “off the shelf”, from a catalog, off the interwebs, etc.
COTS is Commercial Off-The-Shelf. There are several references to it in the manual, robot section. ::rtm::
[R22]
A Commercial, Off-The-Shelf (COTS) item is defined as a part in its unaltered, unmodified state. A COTS item is a standard (i.e. not custom order) part that is or at one time been commonly available from a Vendor. Once a COTS item is modified in any way, it becomes a Fabricated Item.
Found it.
If you take a part you get “off the shelf” and drill a hole in it(or bend it, break it, light it on fire, etc.), it magically becomes a “Fabricated Item”.
… and Fabricated Items count towards.
[R26]
Teams may bring a maximum of 30 lbs of Fabricated Items to each competition event to be used to repair and/or upgrade their Robot at the competition site. The Operator Console and any battery assemblies (see [R03]-A) are not applicable.
So my team could hold on to our custom made bumpers and work on them some more, as long as they weigh less than 30 pounds?
Yes as long as you want to carry other items in (non-COTS etc) that would put you over the 30 lb limit.
I CAN tell you that as an inspector… we are asked to watch what teams bring in with them to the events…during the initial move in period.
I know that 2 years ago my team brought in a large assembly and we found an inspector and weighed it in their presence to show our compliance…we wanted to be proactive.
I believe bumpers have to be bagged along with the robot. (The closest I can find to an answer is this part of the manual that says we can bag bumpers separately.) See if you can find anything out about that before you bag, though.
“I believe” doesn’t cut it…
You may want to read the above-quoted rule. You get up to 30 lb of fabricated material that you can bring in outside the bag. There are no restrictions on what that fabricated material is. So, you could use it for your bumpers if you wanted to. You could use it for a shooter or an appendage. You could use it for the control system. You could not use it at all! You could use it for any combination of the above.
Bumpers do not have to be bagged with the robot, or in the second bag. However, if they are not bagged, they count towards the 30 lb of fabricated items.
To further this question, would sautering wires on a motor count as COTS anymore?
Motors with soldered wires on it are no longer COTS (unless you can buy them with the wires soldered on).
They must be bagged with the robot, or at the same time in a separate bag (per that rule you cited). There’s a Q&A from FRC2988 (2/16) that says if they’re not suitably bagged they count as part of your 30 lbs set-aside.
A COTS item becomes a fabricated item when you do something to it that changes it noticeably. If the fabricated item is not going to be part of your robot, the holdback restriction does not apply. Any items, fabricated or COTS, that are not part of your robot do not need to be bagged on stop-build day (unless you want to). This leaves you the responsibility to bring fabricated things like your driver station, a battery cart, a robot cart, or your pit-area furniture to each of the competitions you’re attending along with your bagged robot.
I’ve read this three times now, and I’ve got a lot of other things on my mind for the 24 hours coming up. My apologies in advance for inadvertent errors, if they’ve been included. [/fake signature] 
:ahh:
Does assembling a COTS kit, per directions without modifications, make it a fabricated part?
Yes. It becomes fabricated because it is no longer in its original unassembled condition. If you then disassemble it then it magically returns to its COTS condition.
Yep. Just to add based on a Q&A question:
FRC0639
Q: If a COTS item is mounted to an assembly of fabricated components, is the item still considered COTS if it is otherwise unmodified? (ie, no mounting holes drilled in it)
A: No. Mounting a COTS item into an assembly is considered modifying it, making it a Fabricated item. If the COTS item was removed from the larger assembly and otherwise unmodified, it would be considered a COTS item.
I guess it needs to be mentioned somewhere in here that batteries (assembled with the wires and connectors) are NOT part of the 30 lb allowance and do not have to be bagged.
[R26]
Teams may bring a maximum of 30 lbs of Fabricated Items to each competition event to be used to repair and/or upgrade their Robot at the competition site. The Operator Console and any battery assemblies (see [R03]-A) are not applicable.
[R03]
The Robot weight may not exceed 120 lbs. When determining weight, the basic Robot structure and all elements of all additional Mechanisms that might be used in different configurations of the Robot shall be weighed together.
For the purposes of determining compliance with the weight and volume limitations, the items listed below are not included in the weight assessment:
the 12V battery and its associated half of the Anderson cable quick connect/disconnect pair (including no more than 12 in. of cable per leg, the associated cable lugs, connecting bolts, and insulation) and
Bumpers (including Bumper covers, if appropriate).