First realize there is a wide range of experience of inspectors. The need for re-inspection was heavily emphasized at the 3 regionals I competed in or inspected at. But T9 is very clear.
Quote:
T9 At the time of Inspection, the ROBOT must be presented with all MECHANISMS (including all COMPONENTS of each 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.
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T10 does not enter into unless you are adding new mechanism or modifications. As long as your robot passed inspection with the ramp (mechanism), you are allowed to play with it or without without re-inspection. Something as obvious as a ramp, I would ask the inspector note the multiple configurations on the inspection form, but that is not technically required. As with any disagreement with an inspector, ask respectfully & graciously to verify the question with the lead robot inspector. The LRI essentially has the final say of far as the teams are concerned. So if the LRI is misinterpreting a rule, you still need to follow their interpretation. Something this blatant, that could have an effect on game play, I would be inclined to give feedback to FRCTEAMS & in the post event survey.
Different events require different rules on documenting re-inspections. The ones I was at required an inspector signature on a form documenting the change & new weight.
The rules about being being in transport configuration until you are on the field have not changed. Some events may have relaxed them to speed field reset times. Presumably they would get permission from First to do so.