[robocup-small] 2006 Rules Schedule

[James Bruce]

Hi everyone,

On behalf of the TC I would like to kick off the 2006 rules discussion 
for the SSL.  We have come up with a schedule that should get the main 
rules finished in a timely fashion this year.  The schedule is given 
below.  The dates are not fixed, and thus should be seen as a guide, but 
we will do our best to follow it as much as possible.  If any 
particularly divisive issues come up we may need to extend some portions 
of the schedule in order to come up with a set of rules the TC and teams 
are happy with.

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SUMMARY:

(1) Oct  9 - Oct 28 : community + TC open discussion
(2) Oct 29 - Nov 11 : TC private discussion
(3) Nov 12          : 2007 rule proposal draft
(4) Nov 12 - Nov 18 : Community feedback
(5) Dec  3          : 2007 rule draft (major rules set)
(6) Dec 17          : final 2007 rules

DESCRIPTION:

(1) At this stage, TC members and teams can openly discuss rules and 
proposals for next year on the mailing list.  All members and teams 
should propose all the changes they want to see, so the entire community 
has an idea of the scope of possible changes.

(2) Here the TC will decide the main changes, and work it down to a few 
concrete proposals.  Some rules may exist in a few forms, and some rules 
can be optional at this point.  The concrete proposals should be fully 
written in the rule format, and ready to get feedback from the community.

(3) The draft and options are presented by the TC to the community to 
solicit feedback.  The TC will weigh the feedback heavily, but it won't 
be binding.  All options for major rules changes will be presented, so 
that the community will be aware of all potential rule changes. 
Compromises are possible and likely between rule variants if the 
community is split.  For any other deviations from the spirit of the 
proposed rules, the community will be notified by the TC at that time. 
There should not be any "surprises" in the draft if a team has been 
reading the mailing list.

(5) After a short time, the "major" rules should be specified.  Major 
rules include anything affecting the robot hardware, number of robots, 
cameras, and field.  In short, these are the rules teams need to know to 
finalize hardware decisions.  More minor rules are those that mainly 
affect software, such as the dribbling distance, timeouts, or referee 
signals.  This split is being done to ensure that minor issues do not 
hold up the process in announcing more important rule changes.

(6) This is the final draft where all minor rules and wording issues 
have been worked out.  As with last year, html and pdf versions will be 
posted with and without the changes highlighted.