Answered: <R11> clarification

[calvc01]

Hi Karthik,

Had a great question from one of our teams regarding <R11>.

They are using 12 motors but were wanting to use the pneumatic pistons as a small linear slide, but not in a pneumatic capacity. <R11> Option 2 would suggest this was illegal:

<R11> Robots may use either:
Option 1: Up to ten (10) VEX EDR motors or VEX Servos (Any combination, up to ten) and a legal VRC pneumatic system. (See <R18>)

Option 2: Up to twelve (12) VEX EDR motors or VEX Servos (Any combination, up to twelve) and no pneumatic components, excluding pneumatic tubing.

a. 2-Wire Motors must be controlled by a 2-Wire Motor Port, either directly on a VEX Microcontroller (P/N 276-2194), or on a “VEX Motor Controller 29” module.
b. Teams may NOT use multiple 2-wire Motor Ports, 3-wire PWM Motor Ports, or Motor Controller 29 modules on a single motor.

Is this correct?

Assuming this is illegal, does this mean that the small metal mounting brackets for the pistons (brackets only, no other pneumatics parts used) are also illegal when using 12 motors as I believe these are only available as part of the pneumatic kits?

And finally, is there a specific reason for the tubing getting an exception?

Many thanks!

[Karthik]

Hi Karthik,

Had a great question from one of our teams regarding <R11>.

They are using 12 motors but were wanting to use the pneumatic pistons as a small linear slide, but not in a pneumatic capacity. <R11> Option 2 would suggest this was illegal:

Is this correct?

Yes, this is illegal.

Assuming this is illegal, does this mean that the small metal mounting brackets for the pistons (brackets only, no other pneumatics parts used) are also illegal when using 12 motors as I believe these are only available as part of the pneumatic kits?

This would be legal, since those can be considered structural parts as opposed to pneumatic parts.

And finally, is there a specific reason for the tubing getting an exception?

The intent was to disallow parts being used any sort of pneumatic power transfer. Tubing when not coupled with any other pneumatic components can still be useful in various structural capacities. We didn’t want to take that away from teams.