Hello,
I have a question regarding the refilling of pneumatics in the championship games, since the robot stays on the field between the matches, would we, or any other team with pneumatics, be able to bring an air compressor on the field and refill our tanks between the matches?
The answer depends on how you fill your tanks. If you are running an offboard compressor then, yes you would be able to refill your tanks. If you are running an onboard compressor, then no you would need to fill your tanks with the compressor on your robot.
Remember that your off-board compressor needs to be powered by the robot and meet the legal specifications of the compressor in <R80>
R80
Compressed air on the ROBOT must be provided by one and only one compressor. Compressor specifications may not exceed nominal 12VDC, 1.05 cfm flow rate. Off-board compressors must be controlled and powered by the ROBOT.
There is time between matches to reset your robot. You can either bring a compressor and your controls onto the field or you can remove your robot from the field and refill your bot.
5.5.6 TIMEOUT and BACKUP TEAM Rules
During the Elimination MATCHES, if circumstances require an ALLIANCE to play in back-to-back MATCHES, there will be a FIELD TIMEOUT to allow Teams to prepare for the next MATCH.
Thank you everyone for your answers.
Edit:
Do you have to run code to fill the tanks as well? So that the robot is still powering the compressor to abide by the rules.
Yes it has to work exactly like an on-board compressor, except you take it off before a match to save some weight.
Yes, the robot would need to be powered up and running code to charge the compressor (use an old battery to fill your tanks, if you can).
Check out this thread on specifics of how you should be setting up an off-board compressor:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112133
Be sure to double check all of the rules - they indicate very well which parts need to be on the robot when your compressor is off-board.
Ok thank you all for helping