Safety Regulations

To maintain safety at the competition, all robots at the event are required to pass the safety regulations that are listed below. Robots that do not comply to these rules will not be permitted to compete.

These regulations are intended to identify a base level of safety — the inspector will use their own judgement and common sense when assessing your robot, and your robot may be judged to be unsafe for reasons or features not listed here.

We recommend that you bear these regulations in mind during development too, although it’s not always possible to meet them while building and testing your robot.

The following procedure will be used when testing a robot:

1. Check that the parts of the robot that were provided by Student Robotics are in a safe condition. If any of the following criteria are not met, the offending component must be replaced with one in suitable condition, and the procedure restarted from the beginning.
   1. Check that the cables between the power board and body of the battery are not damaged. The sheath must not have any holes in it.
   2. Locate the yellow XT60 connector pair that joins the battery to the cable leading back to the power board. Check that the insulation surrounding these connectors and the attached wiring is undamaged.
   3. In turn, give each of the wires attached to these connectors a gentle tug. The cables must not move relative to the connectors.
   4. Locate the metal terminals that connect the battery cable to the power board. Check that the insulation surrounding these terminals and the attached wiring is undamaged.
   5. In turn, give each of the wires attached to these terminals a gentle tug. The cables must not move.
2. Check that the parts of the robot that were built by the competitors are in a safe condition. If any of the following criteria are not met, the team must be instructed to make amendments to the robot.
   1. Check that there is a battery installed in the robot.
   2. Check that any additional power sources have already been authorised.
   3. Leaving the battery physically installed, unplug the XT60 connector.
   4. Check the battery’s mounting holds the battery securely, and does not expose the battery to sharp edges.
   5. Check that the battery’s casing is rigid, and strong – i.e. bubble wrap is not suitable.
   6. Check that the cables between the power board and body of the battery do not pass through areas of the robot that could cause them to be damaged by moving mechanical parts.
   7. Check that only the power board is connected to the battery (if the XT60 connector were currently connected).
   8. Check that the power switch on the power board is easily accessible. This must be on the exterior of the robot, not behind any covers and ideally on the top.
   9. Check that all electronics are securely fixed to the robot.
   10. Check for unreasonably sharp edges and dangerous moving parts.
   11. Check that there is not an excessive amount of unshielded wire protruding from any of the green CamCon connectors.
   12. In turn, give each of the wires attached to the green CamCon connectors a gentle tug. The cables must not move.