what I learn about inspecting...
Phew... Finally done with 2 weeks of regional competition. It was really stressful, but interesting and fun as well. I was an inspector the last two weeks, and I've learn quite a lot about how the competition work and how things are done...
Being an inspector taught me how important the job is, and how hard it is to do it well. And yes, there is the usual check list for teams to go through, but inspecting teams' robot is much more than going through the list and checking off each item.
Well, first, read these few cases and decide for yourself what would you do if you are the inspector:
1. A robot was using illegal structural material on the robot that isn't on the additional hardware list or in small parts. So, it's either allow them to keep the robot, or completely rebuild everything on Thursday.
2. A robot's base is 1/4" bigger than the size limit, however, the entire base is giant pieces of aluminum welded together, and extremely difficult to reduce the size. Will you tell them to waste an entire day to try to fix it up, or let it slide?
3. A robot was allowed to use a globe and window motor on one speed controller for a regional, and was questioned about it at a second regional... The rule says there can only be one motor on each speed controller, however there is no problem with safety with the way they use it. The team say they were cleared for doing that on the robot, and there is no reason why FIRST won't allow that. Will you follow the check list or let it slide?
These are only few of the many situation we faced at regionals... And it is tough to make the call from time to time.
And the core of the debate is, how strict should we be before we are in the way of teams when regionals only happen once a year, and they are there to learn, have fun, and get excited about science and technology.
On one hand, you are telling the team to waste an entire day to fix something that DO NOT give them an advantage on the playing field... The robot will behave the same even if they make the change, and it's just busy work before the robot pass inspection...
On the other hand, you have to be strict and follow the rules... It is the only way we can keep consistency among the regionals, and strict inspection keep teams on their toe, so they will learn to be careful about the rules and not make the same mistake again.
At the end, we decide that being stict is better... Because it is necessary for us to keep a consistant voice about rules and such. And teams do deserve a stick inspection because so many of them work so hard to following rules during build period.
Like Mike Martus said, inspection is supposed to make the machines as safe as possible and as legal as possible. We have the responsibility to enforce the rules, to keep playing field fair and square, to keep the competition safe for both spectators and participants, and at the same time make it an enjoyable experience.
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