So this is going to be a two part question. Our welds on our arm are starting to break and to my knowledge, there is no welder for use at the event so I had the idea of welding a new arm to be safe. The problem is that it weighs 35 lbs so it won’t fit within the withholding Allowance. We could do it in two parts and replace one part before State and the other before world’s (if we go), but is the withholding Allowance the same? And would the arm count against the withholding Allowance since it would replace a part? It would be the exact same arm as before, just new.
There might be some “cheats” you could do if the 35 includes things that could be COTS and put on at the event like motors, sensors, gear/chain, etc. If it’s straight 35lbs of metal, you might be a little out of luck.
We may have to just replace parts. Thanks for replying though. We do have motors and mounts that won’t change, camera and LEDs that won’t change but I can’t remember if we weighed it last time with or without the motors on it.
The Withholding Allowance is the “same” rule. You get 30# at State, and 30# at Worlds. they don’t have to be the same 30#. So, you could replace part of your arm at State before you bag, and then rest at Worlds when you unbag.
Note: Time is very limited at Worlds (load in starts at 1:00 pm, Practice matches start at 6:00 pm, and Qualification Matches start the next morning). Given the mad rush at 1:00 pm, Estimate 2:30 pm to load in. That gives you 3.5 hours to uncrate the robot, get cleared to unbag, and modify your robot before practice matches start. Sometime before 8:00 pm, you need to get weighed and pass inspection.
That was actually the idea I was thinking. I mentioned it to my coach and he said we would talk about it as a team on Tuesday so most likely nothing will get fixed until world’s is the bad thing, but thanks for help on giving ideas.