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Unread 25-03-2013, 20:15
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Jon Stratis Jon Stratis is offline
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FRC #2177 (The Robettes)
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Re: Modifying robot at competition?

Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH View Post
First, the rules are implemented by the officiating staff. You've obviously read them, so you've seen the part about the Head Ref's decision is final. However, if you can show, say, the regional director, that the official is in direct violation of the rules, or of the standard interpretation, then someone from higher up will have a talk with them about correcting their interpretation and implementation. It's happened before. To take the Head Ref as an example, he can get input from any FIRST officials at the event, including any members of the Game Design Committee that happen to be present. LRIs and Head Refs and FTAs all have contact info for their leaders--and I haven't seen the Lead LRI comment here yet, but I know he's around somewhere. If that lead disagrees with the ref or inspector, the lead wins.
There's a reason the rules state "At each event, the Lead ROBOT Inspector (LRI) has final authority on the legality of any COMPONENT, MECHANISM, or ROBOT." (Section 5.5.2)... Very often individuals like the regional director aren't fully versed on the rules or how the GDC has interpreted them, and they haven't been through the same training as the LRI. Additionally, they may not be as familiar with robot design or construction as the inspectors are. As a result, attempting to circumvent the LRI in order to get a more favorable ruling is generally bad for everyone. All of the LRI's have phone numbers for both FIRST and the Chief Robot Inspector, and we certainly feel free to use them if anything extremely difficult comes up. Even if the situation isn't extremely difficult, if the ruling could be at all considered controversial, you can bet the LRI is going to include the Head Ref and the FTA in making the decision. I know I would.

If a team shows up with a difficult situation, the LRI's know how to go about obtaining additional opinions and interpretations before issuing a final ruling... That said, the LRI's ruling is final, per the rulebook. It may not seem fair if a ruling is going against you, but keep in mind that the LRI's are all doing their best to rule fairly and to help every team there.
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