[DonShaw]

The issues with 832 were multiple. It was the mentors from 4059 doing the addition of the blocker and not the kids from 832 from what several of us saw watching in the stands. It was in my opinion poor judgment of an experienced mentor to place 832 is such a position and I do not hold 832 accountable for the mentors actions.

Here is a list of the infractions as some of us saw:

There are several rules that were broken.
R04
In the STARTING CONFIGURATION, no part of the ROBOT may extend outside the vertical projection of the FRAME PERIMETER, with the exception of minor protrusions such as bolt heads, fastener ends, rivets, etc.

**as the match was being counted down, 1-2-3, the head inspector saw the robot fall into a position outside of its perimeter

G07 Teams may not cause significant or repeated delays to the start of a match. Noted D. Installing bumpers, or any robot maintenance or assembly, once on the field

** this was clearly violated as they let the team come back on the field in an attempt to get it into a legal starting configuration and/or delay

G05 Confined to Starting Configuration

Where the refs went really wrong, is they apparently were not aware of the 'Tournament Rules'
T07
Any ROBOT construction technique or element that is not in compliance with the ROBOT Rules must be rectified before a ROBOT will be allowed to compete or continue competing. ROBOTS must fully pass Inspection before they will be allowed to compete in Qualification or Elimination MATCHES.
T08
At the time of Inspection, the ROBOT must be presented with all MECHANISMS (including all COMPONENTS of each MECHANISM), configurations, and decorations that will be used on the ROBOT during the entire competition event. It is acceptable, however, for a ROBOT to play MATCHES with a subset of the MECHANISMS that were present during Inspection. Only MECHANISMS that were present during the Inspection may be added, removed or reconfigured between MATCHES. If MECHANISMS are changed between MATCHES, the reconfigured ROBOT must still meet all Inspection criteria.

T10
If a ROBOT is modified after it has passed Inspection, other than modifications described in T8, that ROBOT must be re-Inspected.
T07, T08, T10 were violated.

The mentors made a major modification to that other robot that was not part of the T08 inspection. It was not reinspected after the modification. It was allowed on the field and continued modification.

Re-inspection is going back to the inspection area, being weighed, check perimeter, check 54" rule

Feedback is welcomed.


FIRST needs to install a rule that mentors are not allowed to be a part of the drive team. The drive team needs to be made up of students that are part of the team. it is bad enough to see some mentors doing all the build work, at least let the kids drive and coach themselves.