Answered: Painting and Anodizing Robots

[bryanhelm]

Dear vex-

As i have been thinking of ways to make my robot different from other robots i have a couple questions that i would like to know as for what I can and Can not do to my robot. Is it legal to paint the metal pieces? And what about anodizing the Aluminum pieces, as anodizing doesn’t change any of the physical properties of the metal. Thanks for your help. Worlds turned out great this year!

[Karthik]

@bryanhelm

Dear vex-

As i have been thinking of ways to make my robot different from other robots i have a couple questions that i would like to know as for what I can and Can not do to my robot. Is it legal to paint the metal pieces?

Let’s take a look at the applicable rule in the VEX Gateway Game Manual

@VEX Gateway Game Manual

<R7d> Teams may add non-functional decorations provided that these do not affect the robot performance in any significant way or affect the outcome of the match. These decorations must be in the spirit of the competition. Inspectors will have final say in what is considered “nonfunctional”.
i. Any decoration which interacts with a game piece (even a painted surface) would be considered functional, hence illegal

Thus, you may paint your robot, as long as it is totally “non-functional”. If any painted piece interacts with a Scoring Object it would be considered functional and not allowed.

@bryanhelm

And what about anodizing the Aluminum pieces, as anodizing doesn’t change any of the physical properties of the metal. Thanks for your help. Worlds turned out great this year!

Anodizing does change the physical properties of the metal, by making it harder (among other things). This is a chemical change which would not be allowed.