At the risk of sullying my reputation by making my first post (on this forum) one which drags out the debate...

Regarding the dont attack the link problem. Ive always felt that the goals of having a link which can be easily and safely removed, and of making sure it doesnt fall out in a fight, are mutually exclusive.

Since events (outside Mentorns control, anyway)allow roboteers to declare when a robot is dead, what would EOs think of allowing a dead robot to be (briefly) inspected, and allowing it to continue fighting if the only thing wrong is that the link is out? (Immediately, I mean - an obligatory rematch would just get tedious).

Advantage: possibly slightly fairer results (who hasnt felt sorry for a robot disabled by a lucky hit on the link?)

Disadvantages: might mean trying to insert a link into a damaged robot without proper inspection (although if links are inserted from outside the arena this might not be so bad). Also unworkable for battles between more than two robots.

Im still only a proto-roboteer, but it strikes me that making a link safe and visible would be a lot easier if having it pulled out by a lucky hit didnt mean the loss of a fight. Maybe a policy of three falls and youre out if someone has a link prone to damage, no as not to hold up the event too much?

FWIW I approve of the LED (it would also look cool), but Im under no delusions that a dull robot is a safe robot. Id have thought that with a bit of contrasting paint around it (small black circle or something) thered be no problem seeing a modern high-brightness LED in reasonable daylight.

My original thoughts on the subject were to have a failsafe radio channel on the link (if theres a signal the robots live), but thats both more expensive and even less reliable than the LED; it would allow hidden links and a better range on one indication that the robot is live, though.