In looking through the new rules, I see that there are some things from years past that are no longer in there. Specifically, the allowance for loctite/thread lockers is no longer called out. Do you think this is an oversight, or an intended decision? I’ll have to dig in and see what, if anything, has changed from last year.
I noticed this as well. It’s really a question for the official Q&A. I would assume it is still allowed, but it is no longer in the rules, so technically it’s not.
I assume they condensed the rule and accidentally omitted that part.
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Ok, if Vex really doesn’t allow loctice this year I don’t see how I’ll be able to use standoffs.
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You could jam nut it. Not the same thing, but it would work if they didn’t allow it.
Like I said, pretty sure its accidentally missing. We’ll see when the Q&A opens
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Not allowing loctite is literally the dumbest thing in the world. I am 1000000% sure that it was a simple mistake and that loctite is definitely allowed.
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Let us all hope so
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I have also noticed that they have left out the rule stating “no 3D printed parts”. So I assume that it was just to save space.
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or we have 3d printed parts “\( ’ - ’ )/”
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I mean the rules specifically say only VEX components, so 3D printed parts are kind of out of the picture anyway.
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If they didn’t specifically ban 3d printed parts, and they didn’t specifically allow loctite, then are both allowed or are both not allowed?
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<R5> disallows any non-VEX part that isn’t explicitly allowed by another rule. Thus, loctite and 3D printed parts are not allowed under the current game manual.
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Past game rules allowed for exceptions in previous season Q&A.
Perhaps you think previous Q&A are no longer in force? Maybe time to ask the official Q&A for the new season about previous Q&A rulings?
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As far as I’m aware, there is no general precedent for all Q&A rulings from previous seasons carrying over. Of course, it’s reasonably safe to assume that if a rule is written the same way this season as in a previous season, then the GDC will interpret it in the same way. But AFAIK the only way to know for sure if a previous season’s Q&A ruling still applies is to ask on the current season’s Q&A.
In the case of thread locker, its use was specifically allowed in the game manual for many years (the relevant rule in Turning Point was <R16g>). This clause is not present in the current version of the TT manual (the equivalent rules are <R21> and <R22> - the robot rules seem to have been simplified and rearranged a bit for this year). My suspicion is that they were rewriting/clarifying the robot rules and forgot to include the thread locker clause in the new version, and that it will return in a future manual update. In the meantime, this will go on my list of things to ask about on the Q&A when it opens, but I think it’s pretty clear that thread locker is not legal in the current version of the manual.
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Interestingly, VEX sells both 1/4 and 1/2 long star drive screws with pre-applied locking compound. Based on this, screws in those lengths with pre-applied locking compound from any supplier would be legal under R11. I don’t know if there is a good alternative for longer screws under the current rule set.
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From a practical standpoint, how could you even inspect if a robot didn’t use thread locker? We aren’t going to unscrew every screw on the robot to see how tightly it is in. Since it is not specifically disallowed, I wouldn’t ask as an inspector if they used thread locker.
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wait a second, loctite is washed away by water, so perhaps this year the game is a water game and they just want us to not use loctite since it would be useless anyways? I’ve foiled our plan vex, though you could hide the water game until week 1 did ya.
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you don’t really need loctite for standoffs. Just use a washer or two, and they’ll stay just fine.
Loctite question has been posted to the official Q&A for Tower Takeover