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Unread 09-04-2008, 21:42
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VEX Robotics Engineer
AKA: Arthur Dutra IV; NERD #18
FRC #0148 (Robowranglers)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
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Re: Uncrating Wed. night - unload pit stuff?

Quote:
Originally Posted by dlavery View Post
We have to have this discussion every year, because every year teams push violently against the rules until they break. For example, last year the rules were pretty darn clear: "three people can enter through the gates one time, and bring in one load of material to leave in their pit. They can uncrate the robot and plug in battery chargers, and leave their materials to be assembled in the morning." Pretty simple and straightforward.

So what did multiple teams do? They "engineered loopholes" to circumvent the rules. They had three people enter the pits. Then they had multiple team members line up outside the entrance, and passed load after load after load of carts, batteries, tool chests, pits construction materials, their kitchen sinks, and their mother's kitchen sinks through the entrance to the three anxious team members on the other side. They created havoc for the traffic flow, endangered themselves and others as they ran back and forth with heavy loads in their arms, and effectively blocked the way when the Sheppard Services folks were trying to remove crates from the pits. They did what was clearly against the intent of the access rules, and then used the classic "well, the rules didn't say we couldn't do that" as the justification

The rule this year is pretty clear. And I am willing to bet that it won't be changed. Is it going to be a little more difficult? Perhaps. But all the teams that "engineered loopholes" in last year's rules have no one but themselves to blame.

-dave
Having volunteered at the main gate to the pits for the Wednesday load-in last year, and I can probably count on one hand how many teams did the above. If making the entire load in process more efficient was the reason behind the new anti-cart rule, simply informing people of the existing rules would have been much more beneficial.

I had to explain to more teams how the load-in works (three people only, they all need wristbands*, stay on plastic, need safety glasses, don't work on robots) at the door of the pits than I can shake a stick at. And that was a much larger problem to the efficiency of the load in procedure than the few teams who got creative with their load-in process.

Having two or three more volunteers outside the entrance of the GWCC to directly explain to every team entering the rules before they entered would have been a lot simpler (and less stressful option) for all the teams attending. As of right now, Thursday morning is going to be a zoo at the GWCC, and I feel sorry for the volunteers who have to manage that.

* Out of all of these, this was the biggest impairment. Most people would just try to walk in, and that was what really slowed the process down as they all had to move out of the way, and find somewhere on the limited plastic to park their stuff, which backed up all the teams behind them.
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Art Dutra IV
Robotics Engineer, VEX Robotics, Inc., a subsidiary of Innovation First International (IFI)
Robowranglers Team 148 | GUS Robotics Team 228 (Alumni) | Rho Beta Epsilon (Alumni) | @arthurdutra

世上无难事,只怕有心人.