Read the mention of the international competition this August, and started thinking of bringing over a bot or two from here in the colonies.

After reading the UK rules there are a couple of things that could be done to make it easier for US robots to compete, that might be worthy of discussion.

US rules can be found at http://www.botleague.com/http://www.botleague.com/

1) Featherweight weight class differences. Here in the US FW is 30lbs, not 12 kilos. Not much that can be done about that, I fear, and thats why God created hole saws.

2) Radio problems. Having to buy a whole new tx/rx for one comp is onerous. Some sort of way to borrow radio kit would be great. Needless to say this could work both ways.

3) Indicator lights & Failsafes. There are some differences between UK and RFL rules here. We both need a visible main power light, but the rules about receiver lights and failsafe lights are different. Basically, in the US, only a main power light is required, but you must demonstrate that the bot fails safe if either the radio signal is lost or the receiver dies.

4) Removable links. This is the biggie. Most US robots do not use removable links because they are too unreliable and are also considered more dangerous. The preferred method is a switch such as the Team Whyachi switches (http://www.teamwhyachi.com/http://www.teamwhyachi.com/), which activate using several turns with a hex wrench. They simply cannot pop out, and you can construct a tool that mounts the hex wrench on as long a handle as you desire, so they permit you to disable the robot from a very safe distance.

Just some food for thought.