Are we allowed to wet than dry Anti-Slip mats to make them damp? If the part of the matt does not come in contact with any other robot and is nowhere near electronics.
Our robot utilizes an anti-slip mat in a mechanism which makes the robot un-pushable once on the 6pt platform, but we were curious to the rules surrounding the wetting of anti-slip mats seeing nothing is in the rules.
Thank you lovely Vex community <3
If you wish a definitive response, post the question to the Official Q&A.
yeah I was thinking of doing that was just gonna see the initial thoughts on the unofficial tech support thread first <3
As an event partner, I would not want you splashing around my fields.
I like the out of the box thinking. I can see referees uncomfortable with it - hence the advice to post to Q&A so you can go armed with a ruling on the matter.
At FRC my nephew’s team got DQ’d because his team had put a polish on their bumper to make it look cooler… It was deemed an illegal substance by the event organizers.
I agree with that - but never had someone come up with the idea of using H2O to solve a problem So I am intrigued to hear the GDC interpretation - something beyond “common sense”.
How “wet” would it be? If it’s just damp, and no visible liquid stays behind (like it makes tracks or marks on the field tiles), I cannot imagine it would be a danger, or even noticeable to anyone else. However, the refs or judges might cite the “aerosols and grease” section of the rules if they notice that it is helping our robot…even though it’s not really a lubricant. If it does leave liquid behind, then it could certainly be a danger to other robots, whether it’s near an electronic part on your robot or not; that’s very illegal.
Or be a good thing for static discharge - no need for sluggish anti-static spray …
I hate to debunk this idea, (I love it) but water is not a legal vex part and therefore wouldn’t be legal
Agreed.
Sorry, but this is going to be a definite no.
But what happens when the Vex game is a water game, hm? He’s thinking ahead.
I don’t think this would be legal due to that not being the water’s intended purpose. This would be the same as using a cone for a robot this year. I will say I had the exact same thought though
I seriously doubt you would get the officials to allow the wetting of anything. But, also, I don’t think I would want my robot to depend on dampness to make it sticky. During tournaments, the grey floor tiles tend to produce dust, and even the robots themselves can carry around a lot of dust on their wheels, etc. So any moisture upon which you might depend could end up getting "baby powdered " out of existence by all the crud that seems to find its way over everything on the field.
Well… depending on where you are playing… on a cold -30 day you could take the robot outside and let it sit for a bit. Right before your match you could zip in and put it on the field… essentially dry at the start of the match. Condensation would form on the steel and aluminum parts and you’d have to come up with a way to have the drips land on your anti-slip mat. But technically the robot you put on the field would be compliant with all VRC rules. Oh, yeah… your motors would also be nicely chilled and you’d gain a few thou of dimensional tolerance for fitting inside the 18" cube. Just keep the batteries warm and try to avoid any impact loading on the plastic bits.
Jason