Power/failsafe LED

[storm]

Given the chance Im sure that one of the rules for the challenge would have been.

...Robots must not be capable of self propulsion :P

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

[shredderteam]

Thats actually a point worth making..

The price of not restricting the development paths for you guys is, Im afraid, more emphasis on safety.
What has in effect been done is that weve said ok, you can build a silly power spinner, and you can do it with whatever materials and components you want, but in return we want you to fit an indication that the spinner is on and therefore dangerous
The only other way to try and keep things safe is to take the path of Rexs rules, and restrict all the weapons, drive and other such paraphernalia to the point where theyre no longer a threat.

I know which one Id rather see

The reason things are moving so fast in the rules of the Featherweight world is that the robots themselves are moving forward in development so fast. I can remember not much more than a year back where most of them were still made of wood!

Anyway
Sam

[storm]

Mmmmmm Wooden Robots

[fwsorg]

Lol. It does make you think that there was nothing stopping anyone turning up with a vortex 2 years ago. The technology was there. People just seem to build to the standard that exists at the time. If one were to step out of the box and do some kind of reverse hindsite type thing, hmm... anyway, it would be good to see if anyone could jump 2 years into the future, today. The future seems to be dominated by CNC. Certianly, if we look across the pond, the view is very much that you cant expect to get anywhere in the 12 or 30lb class without a CNC/well machined bot. Thankfully we have folks like Ed who have the resources to break ground, and the rest of us can duly follow . Whilst it is the case that people like Rex build fantastic things for very little, he is an excellent machinist, with a very complete workshop, and access to the kind of scrapyeards that seem to have F1 car parts and honeycomb aluminium, whereas my locals seem to be limited to rusty gates. For the rest of us, it does seem to involve spending more to keep up with the competition. Where will it end? How much are people willing to pay?

Hmm, a bit deep for a friday night, but there we go:-)

Eddy

[ewan]

CNC rulz! And who said we had to pay for it

[jamesb]

Its not just for the money brigade you know.
A certain Mr Ewan recently did very well with a simple steel chassis. If you make the steel thick enough who needs CNC?

My point is, I agree with Sam, if you are going to build things that are dangerous, you must do it safely. My only worry if the nexr generation of Rexs stuff will not conform to FRA rules, and to comply may be prohibitivly expensive, so we loose dozens of potential members.

All it would take to alleviate my worries is an official FRA e-mail sent to Rex to just inform him of the development of the featherweight class safety requirements (he was after all partly, if not mostly responsible for its explosion!)

I know he doesnt allow spinners, but non spinners are legal. Just because its a lower capability flipper than the current lot doesnt mean they dont need the safety features and I think Rex would be delighted to incorporate out advances in safety into his machines. He is after all a leading figure in making robot combat safer, too safe some may say. Cost is also important to him so Im sure given enough time he can help us in return by coming up with lower cost solutions.

Rex doesnt allow spinners, and prefers cheap machines.
I think Vortex breaks just about every one of his principals doesnt it Ed?
and it moves.

[grafix]

Light colour was mentioned and the only conclusion that we came to was to make the light stand out from the robot colour. ie, red robot = non red light. It stands to reason. It has to stick out afterall. Also, non filiament lights are to be used. Such as LEDs. Again, obvious reasons.

The lights are mainly for us arena marshalls so that we can at least have an indication on at least a few robots in the arena so that we decide who will be disarmed first. The lights can play a great part in helping arena staff.

Mike.

[tim_jones]

Could we have a definitive answer on flashing power lights please? Unless my eyesite is really letting me down the rule in question is

6.8.
All Middleweight, Heavyweight and Superheavyweight Robots must have a light easily visible from the outside of the robot that shows its main power is activated.

We are going in entirely the wrong direction if the currently published rules are embellished by anyone who sees fit to do so.

This doesnt even mention feathers. Having been told and accepted that feathers were to be included I asked for guidance on required specs. Having received no definitive/consistent answers I selected my personal preference of of 10mm red flashing LEDs. I know the cost of changing these is negligible provided I am allowed to run the existing setup until my next parts order goes in, but it is exceedingly annoying when people who failed to answer the initial questions seek to impose new rules that arent even published yet.

Personally I can see little problem with flashing LEDs. They seem to me to be far more easily visible, has anyone else ever tried seeing if there car alarm is on or off on a bright sunny day If reliabilty is the perceived issue in my experience they default to non-flashing on mode if the flasher fails.

Anyway rant over my simple question is where does the alleged non-flashing rule originate from and when/where can I expect to see it published and be enforced.

Regards

Tim Jones

[andy_kane]

Check out thread FRA meeting minutes for clarification on what robots require lights.
Whether they are flashing or not is up to the individual roboteer, but there is a recommended type which is not flashing.

[grant_ploughbot]

I cant find that one, LOL.

to save all this confusion, people geting anoyed, why doesnt some one just put down the bloody rule on this thread in plain, simple words. And then maybe people will understand them. We are getting send forwards and backwards to find out peices of this rule which seems to me just useless confusion.
Considering i need to put some on my robot Im getting confused and frustrated because it could have been put in it by now, and with such little time before its a nessesity I dont know if i will have time now.

I may just be mistaken and the exact rule somewhere else in plain words, but this thread could have ended a long time ago if people didnt just confuse the matter.
Grant