[FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

Well, there you go.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

So this basically means that we'll be filling out a form every time we make a change to the robot? That isn't too big of a deal.

Now if only we could get our programmers to do that :rolleyes:

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

This is what I expected to occur in this instance. Still unfortunate that it occured but i'm sure all the Orlando teams appreciate the transparency.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

Props to Frank for acknowledging situations like these head on and working to make sure they don't happen again.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

What I don't understand here is why the officials on the field seemingly could not make a call that was final. I understand consulting with FIRST about the issue to get the call right but take responsibility for what was or wasn't done. Frank can give his opinion based on information he was given but don't come out and say the ruling from FRC headquarters is this and that's final. Say the refs consulted with FIRST regarding what they thought the rules said and the final call from the field is this.

I want to thank Frank and FIRST for public comment on the matter and I am glad provisions are being looked at to make the reinspection process better.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

It will be interesting to see how we're going to be tracking reinspections. As I'm sure everyone can agree, teams make changes or repairs at competition all the time - the work seems to never stop, and just walking around the pits for 5 minutes shows me at least a dozen teams who are doing something that needs reinspection - and an hour later, it'll be a different dozen! This poses some interesting paperwork issues, in that we'll possibly be generating a lot of additional paper to keep track of it!

I know at my regionals, I have inspectors stationed at 3 spots Friday and Saturday - in the queueing line, at the field, and at the inspection station. This means teams can get reinspected when they ask, AND that every team gets a small reinspection before every match AND that every team that breaks on the field has an inspector following them back to their pit to ensure the repair or replacement is reinspected immediately (often because the inspector is helping the team do the repair or figure out what to do!). If we have to keep track of paperwork for all of these reinspections at a regional... yikes! I certainly hope that FIRST can come up with a wireless, computerized solution for us (something like the NI Parkway app so inspectors can document reinspections quickly right from their smartphone or tablet!).

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

Very glad to see Frank finally publicly address this issue. I have had the pleasure to work with both 624 and 233 closely and they are both world class organizations and I respect them both greatly. I haven't competed with 1902 since their rookie season but they are still my go to example of what FIRST imagery is all about and I have only ever heard great things about their program.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

As it stands now, when teams are inspected, is there a timestamp that goes along with it? Perhaps on the display it could show exactly when an inspector last officially passed a team, and as long as it's before the match time, all is well.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

I like this approach. I know at one of our events this year I had to wander around for 20 minutes trying to find an inspector to reinspect us after we added a GoPro to our bot (we had plenty of weight but given that the LRI at the event had ALREADY cursed at us for asking a question I wasn't taking chances). 30 minutes later one came by and okayed it.

So, I think I might push to have this practice implemented in NE. Thanks :)

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

I for one am definitely looking forward to an improvement in the reinspection process. Given the meticulous nature of initial inspections, it always seemed strange to me that reinspections could be a cursory once-over by an inspector. I would love a bit more thoroughness, even if it means reinspections take a little longer. Hopefully what happened at Orlando won't happen again.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

Funny that you should mention this--the inspectors at Springside-Chestnut Hill and MAR Champs were using tablets with some sort of inspection app. We weren't given any forms to sign, just a sticker when we were done. There were a bunch of features, including a nice diagram of all the teams on a pit map and where they stood in the inspection process.

Maybe they were piloting something? Really not sure.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

I'm glad Frank has cleared this up.

It still concerns me that there seems to be a precedent set here where a team can be retroactively DQ'ed for being in violation of a robot rule.

T6 seems to have been taken to the extreme and interpreted to mean that if a team is ever in a condition where they would not currently pass inspection (but were previously inspected), they can be DQ'ed from a match at any point in time thereafter.

My interpretation of the rule is that a team must have passed initial inspection in order to play and that any condition that puts them out of compliance with the rules must be remedied as soon as it is called to their attention, before they can go on the field again, per G4

Perhaps a Q&A is appropriate here.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

I heard there was a pilot of a new event management app in MAR... you never know if pilots will be successful and adopted, or fail and be set aside though - I certainly hope it was successful!

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

I hope the paperwork burden is minimized or even eliminated. I think an decent solution would be a pad of change forms that all inspectors could keep in their back pocket. It would include a tear off portion that the team retains as proof of re-inspection and part that stays in the pad (and is filed at the inspection station). It would note the date/time of re-inspection, nature of changes, and new weight (if re-weighed). This would still allow for 'on the spot' re-inspections when a team doesn't have time to go to the inspection station before the next match or during elim fix-ups.

Maybe even simpler is for the team to whip out a video camera/phone/tablet and record a short video that includes the nature of the change and a statement from inspector that it has been inspected and a statement of date/time etc.

I actually had a team do exactly that when I re-inspected their bot after they added a frisbee blocker to defend against a tall FCS bot last year. It keeps the situation as now, but the team retains video evidence that an inspector has said "Team 9999 has officially passed re-inspection at 11:40AM on March 15th for the addition of a nuclear reactor to drive the Freon cooled hydraulically controlled flame throwing arm system." The video would include shots of the parts on the robot that have been added or changed. Only the team needs to retain the video to respond to any challenges about re-inspection.

Re: [FRC Blog] Orlando Incident
 

This is correct...I heard the overall response was pretty positive. It was used for everything from judging to inspecting to the game announcer reading off names.