[DampRobot]

How many teams pass inspection really depends how the robot inspectors want to play it. I'm sure that given some adequately stupid "safety" requirements (ie, no injury sustained if team members hands are in the mechanism when it is dry fired), we'd see 90% of teams fail inspection. On the other hand, a more reasonable requirement (IE, that the mechanism can be dry fired without causing any damage, has a reasonably robust and reliable firing system, and that the thing looks strong enough not to self destruct in the first match) will result in all but the most flagrantly unsafe teams passing inspection.

IMO, the best standard would be this: there is a reasonable expectation that the mechanism will not fail catastrophically, and that the team has worked to mitigate injuries that could possibly be sustained from a mechanism that did fail catastrophically. For example, a spring just waiting to be shot into the crowd at high speeds from the smallest bump would be unsafe. A properly tied down spring which would be confined to the robot if it did fail would be considered safe, and pass inspection no matter how much energy it stored.