I asked a similar question of Scott, and he confirmed that the robot 
may perform work entirely within Base, without moving its wheels (or 
treads or whatever) at all, so long as it's acting autonomously.

I'll be very curious to see what sorts of strategies other teams have 
come up with this year! Especially for the "find agreement" arrows.

Cheers,
Mike

>OK that link was very helpful.  The housekeeping rules are clear.
>
>"Start Procedure rule - now allows the robot to contact/interact 
>with strategic objects while leaving Base, and does
>not require the robot to leave Base."
>
>Am a correct in interpreting the above by suggesting that a robot 
>can score points on a mission without having to leave base.  In 
>addition,  it is now ok for robots to activate arms or turn before 
>leaving base.
>
>My apologies if these questions have already been answered.
>
>David Levy
>Coach: Super Nanobot Extremes
>Team 90  - 2008
>Team  668 - 2007
>Tam 1936 - 2006
>
>
>David Levy wrote:
>>Thanks for the heads up and the link.   As a veteran coach I've 
>>just been relying on prior years and not trying to communicate any 
>>nuances to the team.   Up until now our rules have been the one 
>>page printout from techbrick.
>>
>>David
>>
>>
>>
>>On Nov 2, 2008, at 10:41 AM, John Sammons wrote:
>>
>>>UNOFFICIAL COMMENT Veteran teams need to revisit and reread the 
>>>new rules carefully. (Of course, everyone should read the rules at 
>>>- http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FLL/CC-RULES.pdf. 
>>>What we used to be able to do in the past has been changed by the 
>>>new housekeeping rule about handling the robot parts and mission 
>>>sets at the table. While this change in the ruling seems at first 
>>>a little unreasonable, I believe its intend is to keep everything 
>>>visible to the referee and near the table. In the past, it was 
>>>difficult for the referee and other volunteers to keep track of 
>>>the mission parts and assorted team materials as they were handed 
>>>out to team members waiting to work at the table. I, too, would 
>>>like to see as many team members as possible involved at the 
>>>table, but they will have to wait their turn at the table. It is a 
>>>compromise we have had to accept graciously. It appears that the 
>>>rule does allow the team to move the objects out of base and into 
>>>a box, but it is important that any scoring objects needed in base 
>>>be there at the end of the round. Here is that part of the rule 
>>>regarding housekeeping. "Housekeeping rule - now requires 
>>>Base-scoring objects to be in Base at the end of the match and it 
>>>also rules that only the two team members at the table can hold 
>>>objects." "Housekeeping Objects in Base not currently being moved 
>>>or used by the robot are okay for you to shift partially out of 
>>>Base, out of the way, as long this action is not strategic in any 
>>>way. Objects may also be held in hand or in a box by one of the 
>>>two team members at the table. Objects eligible to score in Base 
>>>should be placed in Base when the match is over so the ref can 
>>>score them. Team members not at the table may not hold competition 
>>>objects of any type. "RULING 28 - Housekeeping/Competition Objects 
>>>This is a reminder to veteran teams that the Housekeeping rule now 
>>>requires all "Competition Objects" to be kept where the referee 
>>>can see them, and not held by team members other than the two at 
>>>the table. This includes the robot, its attachments & accessories, 
>>>strategic objects, and all mission models." 
>>>______________________________________________________________ 
>>>______________________________________________________________ To 
>>>UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION, please visit 
>>>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join 
>>>or leave the list". If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L 
>>>mailing list - to which FLL administrative announcements will be 
>>>distributed - visit 
>>>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select 
>>>"Join or leave the list".
>>
>>______________________________________________________________
>>To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit 
>>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join 
>>or leave the list".
>>
>>If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL 
>>administrative announcements will be distributed - visit 
>>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select 
>>"Join or leave the list".
>
>______________________________________________________________
>To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit 
>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or 
>leave the list".
>
>If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL 
>administrative announcements will be distributed - visit 
>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select 
>"Join or leave the list".

______________________________________________________________
To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".

If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL administrative announcements will be distributed - visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".