I just thought I’d share my notes from my first two readings of the robot (R#) rules, highlighting the changes I noticed from 2018, and ask if anyone else noticed any.
R3: Frame perimeter <=120", starting height <= 48" (last year was a box) [fixed!]
R4: Max extension beyond frame perimeter is 30" (16" last year IIRC) [there is no HAB exemption!]
R5: Max weight 125 lb (last year 120lb)
R6: Robots may not be designed to violate G6 (launch a hatch panel)
R12: The big one - budget increased to $5.5k, but only items <= $5 or that were received in the 2019 KoP are exempt. Discussion on this one is here. [updated for TU01]
R13: per-item allowance increased to $500 [rule number fixed!]
@GeeTwo I keep seeing mentions of a HAB extension limit that is different than the 30". I cannot find it anywhere in the Manual. The only HAB differences from normal rules are the 6’6" from floor max height, and the non-enforcement of the bumper zone rules.
Last year did have the Platform Zone exemption, but that was last year.
Thanks, everybody for the corrections! The first two were just by bad handwriting. The third was probably something I read here on CD; I can’t find it in the rules either, looking several different ways. One reason there wouldn’t be an extension limit this year is that it starts out almost twice as deep as last year.
OK, perhaps a silly question - other than for the climb, why would a robot need to extend more than the 16" allowed last year?
I’ll give one answer, though it seems an edge case: to place hatch covers and cargo on/in the rocket with an arm rather than a lift.
Quick clarification that I haven’t been able to figure out; is the extension outside frame perimeter the same for height? Or is there a separate height extension that I haven’t found?
No height limit has been found, apart from the 4’ initial height, and no crossing the 6’6" level while in the HAB zone. That said, why would you need to be any taller than what’s required to reach the highest PORT on the rocket?
Blockquote Sorry, I don’t get this. Ramps are of course different in the arena rules, but the only time the word “ramp” is used in the robot rules is in the same blue box as last year - you may not create a “ramp” effect with the noodles. R30c last year, R31c this year.
One strategy that many teams have discussed for scoring the 12 point HAB bonus is to deploy a ramp for your partner(s) to climb, or climb it yourself and then retract it. The 30" limit puts a big crimp in these plans, as any ramp that doesn’t go over the robot’s bumpers has to be quite steep and not very wide.
I’m pretty sure GeeTwo is just including ramping for another robot as generically part of the “climbing” task.
I can think of some configurations of hatch panel ground pickups that would probably extend past 16". Or atleast fitting them in 16" would be more challenging/less secure.
