Yeah, pretty much. Rule of 7 is an integral part of the game mechanics, mostly to help reduce lag and possible havok explosions. It can be circumvented via BFE, but not in the bot lab. Technically it's a chain of 8 (2^3, thus it's easier for a computer to understand than 7), but the chassis is classified as the first component, or the zeroth component, since the game starts counting from 0, so you can attach 7 components in a chain to the chassis. You can branch off in multiple directions, but you can only get 7 in a row in normal game play.
