Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
Quote:
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Originally Posted by 2007 FRC Manual, 8 The Robot, Rev G
<R112> At inspection, noncompliance with any robot construction rule may result in disqualification of the ROBOT from the FIRST competition event. The team must bring the ROBOT into compliance before they will be allowed to compete in qualification matches. At the discretion of the lead Inspector, the ROBOT may be allowed to participate in practice matches before passing inspection.
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The last sentence is only part of the rule and shouldn't be read by itself, but in the context of the whole rule. The overall rule starts by saying "At inspection..." meaning this rule applies at inspection time. It refers to noncompliance resulting in the disqualification of "
the ROBOT" - noncompliance would be determined at inspection time. The final sentence says the lead inspector may allow "
the ROBOT" (use of
the indicates it is the same robot which was in noncompliance, from the previous sentence) to compete anyway.
If you only read the last sentence alone, I could understand your interpretation. The two preceding sentences, however, make it clear that this rule applies at the time the robot is inspected, not before.
I don't disagree that a lead inspector (or any inspector, for that matter) can prohibit a robot from practicing if something is observed to be unsafe. Originally, you said: "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..)" Did I misunderstand that comment? I interpreted it as meaning you thought a lead inspector could impose a general rule that teams could not practice until inspected, and that this could be applied to all teams at an event, without a specific safety concern in mind. Just to be clear, do you think a lead inspector has the authority to declare that all teams at an event must pass inspection before competing in any practice matches?
Oh, and since I've managed to drag this off-topic, I'll try to repent by saying that I think (3) is the best choice. I think (2) would be chaos (think of a practice field at a regional towards the end of Thursday - 20 teams all wanting to use it and mobbed together, waiting for a spot).