[DonRotolo]

I can't say I saw this at the NJ regional - we were pre-inspected for weight & size around 11 am Thursday, then called for a full inspection mid-afternoon. I did not notice a crush Friday morning.

Maybe we're too flip in stating "it's not about the robot" ?? I mean, it really isn't, but maybe some teams are OK with the building experience and don't really care if they compete? I cannot imagine it myself, but who knows how some people think.

I agree with sanddrags's closing paragraph. Mentors and Coaches may need t step in with one or two weeks left, and take matters into their own hands if necessary*, to ensure that the team does not fail, and ships a robot that has a good shot at passing inspection. Mentors & Coaches also need to emphasize and hold the kids acocuntable for the rules - wrong gauge wire (for example) is simply inexcusable, for both the kids and the adults.

On 1676, we adults tru to stay out of it as much as possible, but we do check the work and insert wry comments at apropos moments (like "umm, is 24 gauge big enough for that spike? What do the rules say?")

Don

*That's the fun part, but we must try to resist the temptation.