Unofficial: Passive Polycarbonate Intake Legality

[kypyro]

In the official In The Zone Q&A, @louisvillecentrons asked:

I wanted to check if Team 7700R’s intake system is legal or not? how?

[kypyro]

Yes, it’s legal.

What part makes you think it might not be? The fact that it’s made of polycarbonate? That’s a material that is specifically allowed by rule, so long as the thickness is correct and all plastic pieces on your robot could come from a single sheet that is 12 by 24 inches.

You’re also specifically allowed by rule to use heat to bend the polycarbonate.

Is there something else that concerns you about it?

[louisvillecentrons]

I thought it violated <R6> .

But i guess R7 (f) does mention use of non shattering plastic as legal.

[kypyro]

Ah, okay. You should also read rule <R7>

<R7> Robots are allowed the following additional “non-VEX” components:

Specifically, part f:

f. Non shattering plastic from the following list; polycarbonate, acetel monopolymer (Delrin), acetal copolymer (Acetron GP), POM (acetal), ABS, PEEK, PET, HDPE, LDPE, Nylon (all grades), Polypropylene, FEP; as cut from a single 12" x 24" sheet up to 0.070" thick.

and subpart f.i.:

i. Plastic can be mechanically altered by cutting, drilling or bending etc., but it cannot be chemically treated, melted or cast. Teams may heat the polycarbonate to aid in bending.

And you can use multiple kinds of plastic in the same robot, so long as they all are on that list, and the template for all the cut pieces would fit into a single 12 by 24 inch rectangle.

The rule doesn’t specifically say that, but Q&A responses in past years have clarified that.