Quote:
Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
But the elephant in the room is really the issue of certain rules that take far too much effort to comply with and enforce, proportional to their actual value. These often greatly lengthen the inspection process, and are directly responsible for the occasional acrimonious discussion that takes place between inspectors and team members (usually mentors).
Since the pneumatics were vastly improved for 2009 (no brand and quantity limits), bumpers are the biggest sticking point. In retrospect, the bumper rule did improve from 2008 to 2009, but suffered during the season from a series of interpretations in the Q&A and updates that introduced new issues and didn't quite account for some difficult cases in a clear and uncontradictory way.
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I agree that part of the problem is the rules. In my 9 years as a mentor, I have seen many robots that I thought would not pass inspection, only to find out later that my interpretation of the rules was not entirely correct. How can I act as an unofficial inspector for the team next to me in the pits if I am unsure of the rules myself?
On another note, at the regional we attended last year, there just was not enough room set aside for the inspectors. The scale and sizing box were too close together making it difficult to move from the scale to the box without getting in the way of each other. The robots lined up at the scale and the size box often stretched down the aisle making it almost impossible to get to the nearby pits.