Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz
Everyone,
Thank you for the nod to the inspection staff. We are happy to be of help, you really challenged us. This device/assembly/(add your own words) was a challenge to evaluate for legality under the robot rules and to believe it to be safe for the teams and any human close by. I am happy to report that everyone we were involved with, acted with the utmost GP in assisting us with the process. It was obvious that the design team had thought and planned for everything I thought might be an issue. While scary in looks and operation, it contained significant safety features and system backups should anything fail during deployment or operation. I would like to restate for the team involved that you acted with all the decorum expected of a Hall of Fame team and I am proud to have been involved in your endeavor.
Attached is a picture of the device in the transport configuration behind the Einstein fields. Yes it fit!
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Al, now can you please post a side by side pic of the Robot that Team 900 originally brought to ST Louis to compete with? (I am sincerely interested in asking about exactly what happened to the ORIGINAL ROBOT that Team 900 brought to the competition). Did they leave with 2 ROBOTS in their crate or just 1 ROBOT? ....Was it (their original upon arrival crated ROBOT), completely disassembled firstly (and the existing robot parts used to build the later NEW ROBOT), before building another from the ground up robot in 7 hrs.? (It looks in their video like a brand new kitbot chassis was used).
If not, then how is it possible that they did not exceed the (rules controlled), posted 1 ROBOT weight limits and Total BOM Cost limits? (IE: THE ROBOT must not weigh more than, or cost more than the listed rules limits).
Were the 2 combined/separate ROBOTS more than 125 lbs. or $4,000.00 in total costs? Inquiring minds just wish to know.
Looking forward to reading that Team 900 whitepaper, and learning more about the safety decision(s) & inspection(s) thought process used to deem legal that particular set of mechanisms, not that I actually thought others were any safer really (as is, THE FASTER & FASTER the can burglaring COMPETITION PROCESS became in my mind, AND IN REAL PRACTICE, a CONSTANTLY more unsafe set of circumstances for the involved parties at the direct sidelines of the field every match existed Re: Everyone nearby AS THE COMPETITETION HEATED UP was more than seriously at risk, though we were rather lucky a few times on Hopper field during the playoffs of our Division it could have had other more extreme & dangerous safety results...
(Extremely nervous head ref's and others were the resultant factor)...They knew the dangers involved, and they were quite high. (A Hockey Goalie type mask w/ a hard hat and a Bomb Squad type padded suit for each, rather than just safety glasses was more advisable railside for Ref's, Scorers, FTA's and all others, including all others looking on closely as the only ones truly safe were drivers directly behind the glass, and those sitting in the nosebleed sections of the upper levels of the arena).
Some of the very fastest hooks for grabbing cans BECAME LOOSE shattered/jagged (and non-tethered, very sharp projectiles launched far and wide and often recovered later far away from the field of play & missing heads along the way).
I personally did not see how it got to where it did (I later handed that shattered pc. personally back to our head ref and actually understood then why he was so danged nervous)...Personally, I was too busy setting that scoring switch down gently & quickly on the floor, and heading for cover behind & under the corner of the FTA table myself...Glad I did now, given where it was finally recovered, as I was definitely standing in the direct line of the projected flight path. (The "it" I speak of, weighed about 2~3 pounds, spiked and dangerously shattered jagged 1/2" sched. 40 pvc, a Team 987 type can burglaring cheesecake hook element, that worked famously....and also failed quite dangerously too, all at the same time...time after time).
The game design brought that element of high cheesecaking (and it was only allowed after a rules change, and a Q&A mind changing failure in my opinion).....Frank's ORIGINAL Q&A ANSWER, should never have been changed in my personal opinion as it elevated the dangers involved in the game to alliance wide dangers, from occasional single robot dangers to the participants, officials, and the spectators. (Am personally just glad noone was injured yet...I also know the dangers are not quite yet over either, as other events are to follow soon enough).
Just a personal (up close), opinion is all. The 2015 Shelf Can Wars (and the ensuing high stacking, were fun to watch, but if allowed to continue...and it will soon enough, then a robotwars type fully enclosed arena of play (along w/ a netted top should also be necessary at high levels of competition since you cannot win the war, without battling and winning the highly contested "shelf can wars in 2015 FIRST FRC Recycle rush").
Cheesecaking in 2015 snatches the best, and ramps up the competition for all. ALL PUNS INTENDED.
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Addition:
Al's partial quote:
The robot built/rebuilt by Team 900 contained parts of their robot that was initially inspected at the 2015 Championship and was found to be legal to compete under the Robot and Tournament rules.
Thank you for the explaination AL (sry it was there later in the thread & before my posting, but I was quoting so had not read that far as of yet)...Now can we please see the side by side PICS? (Inquiring minds just want to see the 2 very different ROBOTS side by side!)
Hmmm, seems to me NASCAR has it more right than we do sometimes, just a thought. When you go to the backup car, YOU GO TO THE REAR OF THE FIELD. While you can do so, there are penalties to suffer, but, you can still compete. You still are required to "Run what you Brung" so to speak. While the 2015 FIRST version of Cheesecake can be and was no doubt highly inspiring for a few teams affected, I imagine it was highly mortifying for many mid-stream teams overlooked during the picks. It happened at Regionals, just as much as during the Champs.