Legality of using 393 motor controller/V5 brain to power LEDS

VEX V5 General Discussion
#1

I haven’t found a discussion mentioning this but ive seen people using LEDS controlled by the v5 brain via 3 motor control 29s
Tarans method

Screenshot_20220723-131616_Samsung Notes
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Screenshot_20220723-134446_Samsung Notes
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Motor controller 29s are not permitted

R12 C.
“VEX electronics may not be used as non-functional decorations.”

Would using a motor controller 29 be considered use of a vex electronic as decoration if its not a permitted vex electronic?

And would powering the lights count as useing the v5 brain as a decoration?

From my understanding leds are completely legal if powered via usb power supply however the rules seem to point against useing the v5 brain

#2

Rule R18 A states:
No other sources of electrical power are permitted, unless used as part of a non-functional decoration per [R12e].
this allows you to power LED lights using a battery pack, there is no reason to power them off the cortex using illegal methods

#3

@Sylvie

#4

Swag is an outstanding reason

#5

I think it’s important to note that OP is already aware of this. I think OP is wanting to make it such that their LED’s RGB values can be controlled individually mid-match. It was noted before that this was legal in previous seasons. But now, thanks to the GDC it is uncertain if they are legal this season. Even though I do acknowledge the GDC’s organization of the game manual is nicer than it was 3-4 years ago, it is sad that the GDC recently has been making petty decisions that simply makes VEX feel and look more boring.

3 Likes
#6

Dude, it’s decorations. We are not building Mardi Gras robots here.

Pick the one that best describes your robot:

  • Our robot had zero decorations on it
  • Our robot had a custom license plate
  • We had stickers (not sponsors but maybe a school / team name)
  • We had sponsor logos (including school / team names)
  • We had lights
  • We had lights and sounds
  • TBH we had way more non-functional decorations than we had actual working robot, need to change that for this season

0 voters

1 Like
#7

They weren’t really legal last season.
https://www.robotevents.com/VRC/2021-2022/QA/942

@Sylvie had them at worlds, but inspection this year was quite lenient in some areas, that may not (really should not) be the case next year.

12 Likes
#9

At worlds, @Grant_Cox told me to email him to “work something out” regarding lights legality, and then has proceeded to ignore all of my emails regarding the subject.

My robot had MC29 powered lights all last season, and nobody cared. I was prepared to remove them if anyone complained. Use them at your own risk.

16 Likes