Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Betts
Eagle,
Unless you want to post your question to the GDC, we inspectors will not have a definitive answer for quite a while.
Let me suggest this: Volunteer to be an inspector at your regional (they always need more volunteers).
Furthermore, volunteer to work the sizing box and scale.
You need to process 60 robots in just a couple of hours (everyone waits until the last minute) and 30 to 40% will require multiple trips to your station...
Keep in mind it's not just you. it's 60 teams of students that are putting the robot into the box and onto the scale. One of them might include your son or daughter...
Now, what would you feel comfortable with?
Regards,
Mike
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As requested by Mike, we posted the question t the GDC and, i believe, inspired part of update 7
Quote:
<R97> For the safety of all those involved, inspections must take place with the ROBOT
powered off, pneumatics unpressurized, and springs or other stored energy devices in
their lowest potential energy states (i.e. battery removed). Power should only be enabled
on the ROBOT during those portions of the inspection process where it is absolutely
required to validate certain system functionality and compliance with specific rules
(firmware check, etc). Inspectors may allow the ROBOT to be powered up beyond the
parameters above if both criteria below are met.
- The ROBOT design requires power or a charged stored energy device in order to
confirm that the ROBOT meets volume requirements AND
- the team has included safety interlocks that prevent unexpected release of such
stored energy.
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I believe this is exactly the type of guidance the inspectors (and teams!) were asking for in this thread. Inspection takes placed powered down, however if your design requires power to conform to the volume rules, and you have sufficient safety mechanisms in place, then you can be sized in a powered on state, or with significant amounts of stored energy.
This makes designs that have been discussed here legal (where in a powered down state a mechanism would extend past the FRAME PERIMETER) for th purposes of inspection.
However, i would beg ALL TEAMS to show up at inspection fully prepared and ready. If your robot requires power for sizing, tell the inspectors about it first, and demonstrate your safety mechanism before heading over to the sizing box. We all know how crazy it can get when an understaffed inspection team is trying to get all the teams signed off to play - It's up to us to make their job as easy as possible, especially when rule conditions like those discussed here pose potential issues that will slow the process down.