Hey guys,
Question regarding R1 in the Pushback game manual. Our team is currently doing a rebuild of our robot and would be wondering if:
We could bring our redesign to work on coding on a practice field. This robot will not be used competitively at the tournament.
Is it legal to have the robot during the judges interview in addition to our competition robot in order to show our improvements and the problems with our current iteration?
Thank you guys!
-11865A
Unless you’re doing VEX-U, don’t bring a second robot to a competition or interview…just don’t. It creates lots of problems for the Event Planner, Head Referee, and Judge Advisor, and potentially creates a situation where the EP has to file paperwork against your team with the RECF.
On paper, not a bad idea for all the reasons you listed.
In reality, it’s a nightmarish spiderweb of legality. Having a second robot at a competition is just asking to get hit with R1 by a team with a grudge. Also, using it in the interview would likely give you a competitive advantage and would this be even more of a potential rule violation.
TL;DR: leave the second bot at home and take pictures to show the judges.
Well, as long as there is no brain or battery, it is not a robot, so it techically woultn’t be a violation. However, it still isn’t very safe.
I think it would be safer to use in an interview if you made it abundantly clear that the robot is not functional. For example; taking off wiring, motors and motor caps, and removing the pneumatic tank and tubing. It would be smart to remove not only components that make the robot functional by the rule-book definition, but also parts that could allow the robot to become functional in a reasonable time-frame. I’ve heard of teams doing this, and am thinking of doing this myself. I think it could be an interesting visual tool to show judges. It seems like a cool way to show specific improvements in design, and why you made the decisions you did on your competing robot.
That’s a good idea. I might try to do that with previous iterations of subsystems.
I do not believe this is that large of an issue.
For bigger events, robots who pass inspection get tagged. Therefore for big events, this likely is not an issue and would probably be allowed without any headache because the non tagged robot would be clearly and visibly incapable of competing.
For smaller events, they won’t have that measure in place with tagging. However, it may not really be as serious if the robot is intentionally built to look like a programming robot. For example, marking it with “Non-Compete Robot: For Programming Use ONLY” may be a solid way to have the robot without causing any headaches.
Essentially, what’s more important is the visible perception that the robot is obviously not meant for competition and is meant to be a tool.
Just to be specific, you CAN have another one not at the competition that’s being worked on at home, but at the competition, you can only have one robot there. Good advice is to
I do not know the most recent game manual, but based on historical events at worlds when I was competing, there have been VEX robots at events that drive around the pits for non-VEX competition purposes. For example, I brought a second VEX Robot at Worlds, solely to stand, unpowered, on the table and inside of a trophy-like appratus, and nobody raised an eyebrow because it was visibly a non-competition showpiece.
Looking at the rules, the most important factor is intent:
Part A: Teams may not compete with one Robot while a second is being modified or assembled at a competition.
Firstly, this rule exists to make a blanket statement that a team cannot build a second robot during the event for the sole purpose of competing. If the R1 ruling was stretched to have that implication beyond the literal, I doubt Worlds would have as much glamour:
If OP is worried and wants be absolutely 100% certain that the programming robot would be allowed, just make it out of FRC chassis or extremely high usage of 3D printed parts so it is incapable of passing any inspection, therefore making it clear that it’s not a robot that is meant for competition.
