@GregR asked in the below official thread:
http://www.vexiqforum.com/forum/viqc…ng-intake-type
- Is it legal to change intake during a tournament to accommodate team alliance robot capabilities and for autonomous? Say for example, the team’s primary intake is a “pincher” type that collects rings from the floor and from the starting pegs and still maintaining the specified dimensions (11x20) x15 at starting position and height extends about 18". Sometimes it is better to use a “claw” type intake during team alliances and/or easier to program for autonomous.
- If I’m not mistaken the rule stated only 1 robot can be used, but I’ve seen teams with 2 identical robots that they use specifically 1 for autonomous and the other for alliance challenges. Would this be legal?
If you take a look in the manual you will see that there are 3 primary portions to the robot.
<R2> Only one (1) Robot will be allowed to participate per team in the VEX IQ Challenge. Though it is expected that teams will make changes to their Robot at the event, a team is limited to only one (1) Robot. The VEX IQ System is intended to be a mobile robotics design platform. As such, a VEX IQ Challenge robot, for the purposes of the VEX IQ Challenge, has the following subsystems:
Subsystem 1: Mobile robotic base including wheels, tracks, or any other mechanism that allows the Robot to navigate the majority of the flat playing field surface. For a stationary Robot, the robotic base without wheels would be considered Subsystem 1.
Subsystem 2: Power and control system that includes a VEX IQ legal battery, a VEX IQ control system, and associated Smart Motors for the mobile robotic base.
Subsystem 3: Additional mechanisms (and associated Smart Motors) that allow manipulation of game objects or navigation of field obstacles.
Given the above definitions, a minimum Robot for use in any VEX IQ Challenge event (including Skills Challenges) must consist of subsystem 1 and 2 above. Thus, if you are swapping out an entire subsystem of either item 1 or 2, you have now created a second Robot and are no longer legal.
a. Teams may not participate with one Robot, while a second is being modified or assembled.
b. Teams may not switch back and forth between multiple Robots during an event.
You may not switch out subsystems 1 or 2, but you can switch out subsystem 3, which our kids in IQ and VRC often do for auton or for certain partner capabilities. These are also known as swiss army bots. Also, I have seen rulings from last year where you can switch out certain things in subsystem 1 like changing from treaded to omni wheels. What our kids do is show the inspectors each setup that we plan on using during the tournament and get it all inspected at the beginning.
However, if you have seen teams have 2 identical robots, one for skills and one for alliance matches, that is illegal.