I had a question for my vrc v5 robot. I have recently bought a set of LED strip lights for my robot. I was just wondering if they are still legal. They do not connect to my brain of my phone in any way and have their own battery power.
yes, that is legal, but there is a slight problem with lights because they can interfere with vision sensors in competition. If you plan to do in-person comps at all this season I would suggest having the lights point towards the floor (under-glow) or have a simple way to turn them off (which would be very easy considering they are battery-powered.
Also another idea for lights would be to put them behind frosted polycarbonate, so the light gets defused throughout a larger area. But regardless of everything I just mentioned, lights are legal
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There are no changes or exceptions to Inspection Rules based on the format of the event. Inspection Rules are exactly the same for live remote tournaments and remote Skills-only events as they are for in-person events.
In other words, rule <R13e>, which you seem to be referencing (always remember to cite exact rule numbers!), still applies even when there is only one robot on the field.
<R13e> Decorations that visually mimic field elements or could otherwise interfere with an opponent’s Vision Sensor are considered functional and are not permitted. This includes lights, such as the VEX Flashlight. The Head Inspector and Head Referee will make the final decision on whether a given decoration or mechanism violates this rule.
@Andrew123 Always check the Game Manual first for rules questions. 95% of the time you will find your answer in there, with the official wording of the rules.
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I wasn’t really referencing this rule, I was just going off my past experiences with lights on robots. I have never had to turn the lights off in a match and I have never had a problem with inspections, but the head ref did tell me that if any problem does come up in match play with another robot using a vision sensor I would have to turn the lights off
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while I would agree that this rule still applies in live remote tournaments, I find it unlikely that a head inspector or a referee will decide that a decoration has a chance of interfering with an opponents vision sensor, since there are no opponent vision sensors on the robot’s field. The rule is the same, but the effect it might have on whether a decoration is permitted might change between the different even formats. At least that is how I’m seeing it.
That said, if your decoration could be considered to mimic field elements or distract vision sensors in any format, you probably shouldn’t have it on. save yourself and the inspectors a hassle.
what that means in terms of lights, probably should keep them to an underglow and maybe choose colors that aren’t red or blue.
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Yes, I have no doubt that inspection tends to be more relaxed for Live Remote Tournaments and Skills-Only Events (in-person or remote). The rules are still the rules though, and every qualifying event is supposed to follow them as written.
I think Xenon’s point is that in this case “following the rules as written” requires refs/inspectors to make a subjective judgement, and the factors that need to be weighed in making that judgement are different for in-person vs. remote events.
“Interfering with an opponent’s Vision Sensor” is much more difficult (if possible at all) at a remote event compared to an in-person event; as such, I think there are circumstances where it would be reasonable for a head ref to rule that a particular robot component could interfere with opponent vision sensors when inspecting it at an in-person event, and for the same head ref to rule that the same component could not interfere with opponent vision sensors when inspecting it for a remote event.
That said, I think this:
is the most practical answer to the original question
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