Dave, the suggestion is
not that teams be required to be inspected before practicing. (Although that requirement can be imposed at the discretion of the lead robot inspector: see <R112> on p. 29 of the
2007 FRC Manual.)
The suggestion was that teams be required to be inspected before entering the
Fill Line as described in Option 3 above. I see no problem with practicing before completing inspection unless the robot is unsafe, and then I would apply the discretion provided by R112. Within the constraints of safety and a fair schedule, I think teams should get as much practice time as they can -- even if that delays inspection. But teams seeking to get
additional practice time by entering the Fill Line should not be permitted to do so by delaying their robot's inspection.
__________________
Richard Wallace
Mentor since 2011 for FRC 3620 Average Joes (St. Joseph, Michigan)
Mentor 2002-10 for FRC 931 Perpetual Chaos (St. Louis, Missouri)
since 2003
I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.
(Cosmic Religion : With Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931) by Albert Einstein, p. 97)