[KevinRo]

Sorry, I am a bit late to this conversation. I think we are arriving at some potential ways to implement the 10 qualification matches.

As a preface, I think most teams would like the ability to compete more. So I am approaching this issue as a good thing. It does, however, mean changes to a sacred schedule that has been part of the FRC community for a long time. If we accept that the change is a positive step, then we just need to work on details of implementation.

For the larger events, like Seattle with 64 teams, going from 7 matches to 10 matches requires 3 additional rounds. That is going to work out to be about 4 hours of additional play time. How this gets allocated is undecided at the moment, but the cold hard truth is that is requires moving some play into Thursday. Noon on Thursday just isn't possible no matter how many ways I have attempted to schedule it. However, I think 4:30 on Thursday is very possible, allowing us to pickup 2 rounds on Thursday.

Traditionally, many teams have viewed Thursday as the last day of the build season. Their robots come in incomplete and in need of substaintial work before they can actually run on the field. As everyone has thoughtfully stated already, we need to change that expectation this year.

I would love some feedback on the following proposal. What if we required all teams to have an inspection on Saturday, Feb 20th by a certified robot inspector? This pre-ship inspection means that the build season needs to be respected this year, rather than shipping an incomplete project. The goal here is to reduce the amount of onsite inspection repairs so that teams are ready to compete on Thursday afternoon. Here is a snippet from a proposal I have been discussing:

"One item that we can require pre-ship is for a preliminary inspection to be done by a qualified robot inspector. In the populated areas around Seattle, we can arrange to have a group of trained inspectors available for on-site inspections the Saturday before shipping. All teams are required to have this pre-ship inspection two days before shipping. The goal here is for the teams to catch the low hanging fruit (bad wiring, wrong materials, size issues, etc) BEFORE the ship to an event. They can then have time to correct these issues in their own shop, rather than doing it at the event. For teams in rural areas, all teams will be required to designate one third party to act as a certified inspector. We will give this person basic robot inspection materials and training at least a week in advance. This does not take the place of the full inspection on Thursday, but it will hopefully allow the teams to shave 4 hours off their day on Thursday.

We may also implement an 'express line' for teams who have competed before. Ironically, the 'express line' inspections won't happen until later in the day (around noon), so we can get the rookie and uninspected robots done first. That gives them time to get changes implemented."

To summarize:
1) Require an inspection 2 days before shipping
2) Thursday, all inspections MUST be completed by 4pm
3) Play starts on Thursday evening.
4) The 'build season' really does end on ship day. This is the change in thinking.

I welcome your comments!

Kevin Ross
FIRSTWA Chairman