Important 80 inches!!!
 

We went to the san diego regional and as we got inspected they checked for the 80 inch rule (marked down if over). There was like 10 teams that were over, but there was never a penalty during a match for the 80 inch. The inspection guy said that they just wanted to know if you're over 80. NO PENALTIES???? What is the ruling for this

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

The teams over 80 inches may have had software stops in order to stay in the envelope, and never exceeded.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

It is the inspectors job to determine if a robot can exceed 80 inches, it is the team's job to make sure it never does, and it is the referees job to assess penalties if it gets too large. Many robots are mechanically capable of exceeding 80" (my team's robot is one), but the code prevents it from happening, and thus there is no penalty. The little dots just mark if a robot can exceed 80 inches, they don't mean that, in normal operation, it does.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

During inspection the inspectors check to see if it is possible for the robot to exceed the 80" horizontal dimension mentioned in <R16>. The purpose of this sticker is to alert the referees to keep an eye on this robot during the match.

If the robot exceeds 80" during the match it is assessed a 10 pt. penalty. Many robots (multi-jointed arms, multiple independent moving parts) have the physical capability to violate <R16> (warranting a sticker) but have software in place preventing the offending configuration.

A robot can pass inspection despite being able to exceed 80" and enforcement of this rule is up to the referees.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

But they went over 80 inches, so is it going to be inforced? Yes i totally agree with the fact that they shouldn't pass inspection

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

I have seen teams both live and on video that I know were over 80" when fully extended but the only time I have seen it called is when a robot has fallen over.

I think the refs need to be more aware of checking for this.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

How are the referees supposed to call a penalty on this?? It wont happen. I personally think that if you can extend outside 80in, you shouldnt pass inspection.
Joey

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

Being capable of exceeding 80" is not a violation of any rules. Inspectors have only been asked to identify robots that are capable of breaking that rule during competition. It's up to the referees to ultimately enforce the 80" rule. Inspectors are simply flagging the potentional violators for the refs.

A good example of this - a robot has a pair of arms (one fore and one aft) that exceeds 80" when simultaneously extended. As long as they only extend 1 at a time during the competition, they won't violate the rule.

Russ Beavis
Chief Inspector

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

Just because your robot is physically capable of exceeding 80" doesn't mean that it will. Like many people have said, teams may have software in place that prevents it, or they may not use configurations exceeding 80" during gameplay. Why should they be punished for being capable of breaking the rules, even if they don't break the rules?

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

That is waht happened to our team and welooked through the rule book and luckily caught it. So we just shaved off a couple of inches that we were over and are now fine.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

I understand where you are coming from, however I dont think the refs should need to worry about this. How will they know if iit went over 80in?? If they think it went over 80in, and they go and tell the team why they got a penalty, what happens if the team says its impossible because the code wont let it. The refs cant go out on the field with a tape measure, but the inspectors can. Also, many people were complaining about missed calls by the refs. This is a complicated game, and 80in is just another thing they need to watch out for. I personally think teams shouldnt pass inspection, however I know it isnt the rule.
Joey

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

Why not? It happened last year with the 72" rule, and I've seen it happen this year.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

Actually im pretty sure at VCU yesturday a team tipped over and the refs went out onto the field to measure them.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

That is flawed logic. The exact same argument could be made for failing robots that are geared to travel faster than 4ft/s (eliminate high speed ramming), or practically any other rule (hey, if teams don't build a robot, they can't impede, lets just fail anyone who shows up with a robot).

Yep, that would be 401 who tipped. One of the very few penalties I saw at VCU that wasn't associated with breaking the plane.

Re: Important 80 inches!!!
 

We were penalized for that during our last match, semifinal #2. We tipped over, and we were asessed a 10-pt. penalty on top of losing anyway.