18th FRA General Meeting - 20 June 2008

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Minutes of the 18th FRA Governing body meeting

Saturday 20th June 2008

Present – Geoff Smith, Tony Somerfield, Mark Tim Bence, Andy Kane,
Karoline Pannell, Trevor Wright, Kane Aston and Pete Lale

Items of Discussion

1. Proposal to create a set of rules for demonstration events only.

The governing body concluded that the existing class 4 arena rules were
irrelevant to today’s needs and it was decided that two new classes be
created that were not for any robot combat but for controlled demonstration
purposes only.
The matter was adopted by the meeting and sent to all FRA event organisers
for their comments.
All event organisers replied in agreement without any changes and the
document now resides on our website.

2. Succession

Our governing body term comes to an end on the 31st March 2009.
The Chairman and President will be standing down from their posts and not seeking
re-election.
The meeting decided to bring forward elections to January 2009, enabling a new team
to have time to learn their new duties.
Karoline Pannell has kindly agreed to take on the secretary and treasurers role for the
association for 2009.

3. Rule publications.

A. New simplified robot tech check sheets were approved for use
B. Link rule changes were approved for robots that could not invert themselves and
the existing link could not be accessed a second link is required.
C. Rule weight changes for heavy weight machines is approved with effect from 1st
January 2009.
(All of the above are now published on the FRA website)

4. Proposal for the adoption of a common tool for actuating primary gas valves
in pneumatic robots.

The governing body is in favour of a common tool for arming up pneumatic robots.
It was acknowledged that with so many different styles of machine that it may be
impossible to adopt a tool of a single type.
A 17 mm socket connected to a fixed handle would be the favoured tool. This socket
should not be able to be removed from the handle/ driver.
The meeting decided that this should be in our build rules as an advisory item. Kane
Aston agreed to write up and present to our next meeting.

5. AOB

TX Control
It was questioned whether there was a need for continued TX Control at events with
the advent of 2.4gig radio.
The meeting agreed to put the question out to event organisers for consultation.
Power light for pneumatic weapons.
This is proposed as an aid to tech checkers when inspecting pneumatic weaponed
machines only.
Recommendation, to fit a power light to show that the solenoid valve is actuated or not
and is for tech checking purposes only.
This extra power light does not have to be seen in an arena.
Forum Software
A discussion was held with a potential forum software upgrade in mind.
Proposals need to be received to take this further.