[Bob Steele]

As a mentor I really have a problem if a team cannot reach the top of the pyramid to unlock their robot. I would imagine that we will have girl's teams that will have great difficulty with this. The 90" pipe is just that... 90" or 7.5 feet above the floor... I am 5 11 and the tips of my fingers are almost exactly 8' off the floor. For a 5'6" student I am sure they will barely reach the pipe.

I would also like to state that this is a safety hazard, with or without the "belay system" This is the reason we have ladders.

I don't want my students to be put in a situation where they can't reach the third level to unlatch the robot. The

Where is the logic in not allowing a short team to climb the pyramid with their robot just to get a yellow card and then a red the 2nd time? Why design a game like this? (I don't mean students climbing on the pyramid...)

Just lifting a 155 lb weight up by a few inches from a height of over 5 feet is not going to be easy. Of course those of us with big male or female students (over 6 feet tall) can figure out how to do this... but it is inherently unsafe to be under this robot.... that includes the belay.

A belay can slip... it is a human interaction...
Ask any of us who have done climbing...
If a robot comes off the top and starts to drop... I will be surprised if the belay will catch it unless it is attached to the operator's body with a harness AND he/she knows what they are doing...they have to take in slack to their body harness point. Perhaps all of the field personnel will be specially trained and outfitted with the proper equipment to do this... but it is not how it was shown in the video...

If a belay slips.... the students or anyone under the robot gets hurt.

It makes sense to have the proper equipment on the field... such as ladders for the lifters that will put them out from under the robot so they can lift with their legs instead of pushing up with their arms/legs from underneath.

It is a travesty if teams get yellow cards because they are attempting to apply the proper safety precautions.

GDC please rethink this.... what is the point of the yellow card for a piece of safety equipment or any other means that allows the safe removal of the robot? Does it give a team an unfair advantage to do a safe removal?