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Originally Posted by Mark Pettit
At L.A., the inspector that was going over our robot was incessantly telling us what was wrong with our machine. He would point at a part and tell us how we should have done it instead. [what a jerk]
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In this case, not seeing the incident in question, its hard to judge... If it was safety related, listen up! But if it was simply HIS opinion for a "better way", well, he can have his opinion, and you can have yours!
Please be conscious that there's a fine line all inspectors have to walk, between trying to be helpful, "mentoring", and perceived as being "overly critical". OOH, he has no reason criticizing a well working system.
OTOH, there's a disabling concept rampant among businesses, called "NIH Syndrome". (Not Invented Here... IOW, "If WE didn't come up with it, it CAN'T be any good") If your own pride deafens you from absorbing some cool ideas "for next time" which may have made your job easier, THAT in and of itself CAN be a problem.
His experience may have been dearly won, with pain, suffering, long hours, dead robots, or simply some lousy round scores. You never know... Just take notes, and try not to take his comments personally. Look them over LATER, once you've cooled off. If it turns out to be SOUND advice, add it in your bag of tricks for another year.
Hey... I'll admit to ANYONE that *I* am not an expert in everything.
I have no crying need to suffer needlessly. If ANYONE wishes to offer me "a better way" to do ANYTHING, I'm all ears! I'll just take the data, and decide LATER if I'll take the advice or not the NEXT time I'm faced with the same choice!
But then, it doesn't mean we're going to tear apart a legal, working robot just to satisfy HIS vision of OUR robot...
Bottom Line: To heck with other's opinions... RESULTS ARE EVERYTHING. If your robot is LEGAL, AND it does what you wanted it to do, it's FINE... The Field will determine if your approach was sound or not. BUT, don't succumb to "NIH Syndrome" and tune them out whenever someone tries to offer advice!
Sounds like you handled it well, and your bot worked out, and that's ALL that matters. Keep up the good work, and Build More Bots!
- Keith