This is a follow-up to Q&A 2113. The bullet points at the end of that answer state that:
Teams making custom sensors or electronics should follow the following guidelines, similar to other fabricated parts:
- Team-designed and Team-manufactured (either by in-house, or external machines) circuit board assemblies are legal
- Team-Designed and Third-Party Manufactured Circuit Board Assemblies are not legal
- Third-Party Designed and Team Manufactured Circuit Board Assemblies are not legal
This is very different from how additional electronics have been handled in the past, and also contradicts a plain reading of the game manual. Fabricated parts are covered by <VUR3>-<VUR7>, with the guidelines described above seemingly coming from <VUR7>. However, <VUR12> explicitly states that additional electronics (with the caveat about electromechanical assemblies as discussed in the earlier Q&A) have no restrictions, other than the six subpoints of that rule, which cover electrical interfacing with the brain, power supply, internal motors, and interfacing with pneumatics. None of these subpoints relate to the design process or manufacturing of the electronics, and currently many VURC teams use electronics for sensing and/or processing which are permissible under <VUR12> but would violate this Q&A if it is enforced as currently written.
Here are the specific clarification questions:
- Are electronics for sensing and coprocessing (which do not include any mechanical capabilities as discussed in Q&A 2113) considered fabricated parts under the VURC rules? (Note: see Q&A 1852 from last season, in which this question was answered in the negative).
- If the answer to 1 is yes, how should this be interpreted in the context of other fabricated parts rules (e.g., how might a team fabricate electronic components from <VUR4>-compliant raw stock)?
- Regardless of the answers to the above questions, are commercially available electronics (with no mechanical capabilities), such as a Raspberry Pi, permitted on VURC robots? My understanding is that, by a direct reading of <VUR12> and the definition of "Additional Electronics" (where it is an explicit example), the answer is yes.
- Are electronic components which are fully designed by the team (again with no mechanical capabilities) but manufactured by a third-party, such as a custom computer board similar in principle to a Raspberry Pi, permitted on VURC robots? My understanding is that, again based on <VUR12> and the definition of "Additional Electronics", the answer is yes. This intuition is also based on the common sense and student-centred principles of the competition; surely, if students are more involved in the design of a part, it shouldn't be less legal under the rules (assuming there are no safety concerns).
- If the answers to either 3 or 4 are no, what is an example of a legal "additional electronic" component?
I'm aware that the Q&A system is intended only for the purpose of clarifying the meaning of the game manual, but I want to add a personal note on the end of this question to explain why I am asking it. Our team's mission is to both compete in VURC on behalf of Queen's University and to provide students with an extracurricular opportunity to learn and develop their skills in areas relevant to robotics through participation in the competition. The second part is particularly important to me, and I believe it strongly aligns with the RECF's own mission and vision as well. For the past several years, one of my main responsibilities with our team has been to teach circuit board design to general members. We accept members with no prior experience beyond high school physics and teach them about digital and analog circuits, interfacing with microcontrollers, power converter design, digital communication interfaces, and more, resulting in application-specific computer systems of a similar complexity to a Raspberry Pi which are purpose-built for their use on our competition robots.
These skills and capabilities are well beyond anything covered in the curriculum, including electives; I can say this with confidence having served on my department's undergraduate curriculum committee and taught a sophomore engineering course, among other roles. This has hugely benefited a number of team members, some of whom have been able to land year-long co-op positions in electrical engineering with their only prior experience being what they did on our team. I personally know current and former members of several other VURC teams who have similar stories. All of this learning and skill development would not have happened if custom electronics was not possible within the framework of VURC. Finally, on the note of in-house versus third-party manufacturing, I would note that the circuit boards advanced enough to work with modern microcontrollers (involving small-pitch or ball-grid-array surface-mount components) generally cannot be manufactured or assembled by any hobbyist-grade machinery, so in-house manufacturing is not an option.
I hope the GDC considers the positive impact which permitting custom electronics has had on students in VURC and clarifies the ruling in a way which keeps that possible.
Nick Mertin, MASc, EIT
Founder and Chair of the Board of Advisors, Queen's VEX U Robotics Team (QUEEN); Alumnus and mentor, E-Bots Pilons (5225A); Certified Event Partner and Head Referee