[Jon Stratis]

There are multiple issues with having shop compressors in the pits.

First, as inspectors we don't know what you're using it for. You could use it to charge your robot at any point - while this is clearly not legal for competition use, doing so for use on the practice field and in the pits also bypasses half the safety mechanisms on the robot - stored air is not under the control of the robot, it doesn't turn off when the robot is disabled or e-stopped, and it doesn't automatically stop at 120 PSI (many shop compressors can be adjusted to charge to greater than 120 PSI). So using it to charge the robot for non-competition uses at a match violates R8 by creating a potentially unsafe condition in the pits or practice field.

Second, many of the venues we run our competitions have limited available power. Shop compressors require significant startup current and could easily blow a breaker, cutting power to your pit and your neighbors.

Third, as already pointed out, shop compressors can very easily be used to create a dangerous situation by blowing metal chips around - those can easily find their way around safety glasses and into team's electronics.

Please, do us all a favor and leave the shop compressors in the shop. We don't want to see them at competition.