Material for "side panel" decorations

[4149G]

I didn’t want to ask on the official Q&A because I figured someone here knows…

I see lots of robots with really nice “side panels” that show off their team name/logo and sometimes sponsors. My team wants to do something along these lines.

My question is, what exactly is legal and what is illegal? I’ve seen pictures of robots with a corrugated plastic of some sort, others with lexan, others with cardboard or tag board.

Is all of this legal as long as it is “nonfunctional”? What about lexan, because the rules specifically limit you to 12"x24", but what if the lexan is completely nonfunctional…just for decoration…are you then allowed to use as much as you want? How about acrylic (plexiglass)?

Thanks!

[Luke323Z]

The rules state that you may have nonfunctional decorations. What we have done (and never had any problems at competitions regarding legality - including worlds) is printed out side panels on paper, laminated them, and then protected them with lexan. It is possible I’m wrong about something, so if so someone please correct me, but as I said we have never had problems regarding legality.

[thedarry]

So long as you comply with <R7> you should be fine. But I guess that you have to be able to do is convince an inspector that the component is non functional, as some may interpret “nonfunctional” differently.

<R7>
d. 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”.

[Cake]

@4149G

I didn’t want to ask on the official Q&A because I figured someone here knows…

…

Is all of this legal as long as it is “nonfunctional”? What about lexan, because the rules specifically limit you to 12"x24", but what if the lexan is completely nonfunctional…just for decoration…are you then allowed to use as much as you want? How about acrylic (plexiglass)?

Thanks!

Nonfunctional lexan or other plastic does not count towards your 12"x24" limit; just make sure that it is, in fact, nonfunctional; you don’t want to have to take all your plates off in a hurry if you suddenly find they are not legal at inspection.

[4149G]

Thanks guys! I was mostly concerned about the lexan. I want to use lexan because it gives the most professional look, but I was worried about using to much.

Based on what I’m reading here, it seems I should be able to use as much lexan as I want as long as it is truly “nonfunctional”.

Thanks.

[TEAM_LEGEND]

@4149G

Based on what I’m reading here, it seems I should be able to use as much lexan as I want as long as it is truly “nonfunctional”.

Yes, you can use as much as “non functional” Lexan, polycarbonite, etc… Never had an issue at inspection time. Just make sure your “under 18in” We currently are running both side and rear panels on our robot(LEONIDAS).