[Al Skierkiewicz]

Yoel,
Very well stated, and I fully agree.
From an inspection standpoint, you as team mentors and students need to know that our responsibility is to help you by making all robots compliant. It is what is fair for you in competition and what helps the students realize that there are specification and design reviews in the professional arena. As hard as the inspection team tries, some things are missed during inspections. The example you linked to Don, is one of those things that should have been caught in inspections. It may have been and the regional inspection team and other staff may have approached the team. In this picture, it is easy to see the team name is painted in place. What could be the immediate fix for this? A piece of blue fabric, some tape, or something more ugly like paint remover? It is possible that the decision to let them play for that event and correct the problem prior to their next event was made.
I would like to make a request now that any experienced mentor who works on a robot, think about volunteering for inspections next year. Many of the regionals have to rely on other volunteers to help fill out the inspection staff. Although they are good and dedicated alternatives, some may not work on a robot. By having experienced mentors, we start with someone who is already familiar with the robot rules and what components look like when assembled. These people may not be totally sure if a particular item is legal or not, but they can recognize something that is out of the ordinary and bring it to the attention of the LRI. I and all the other LRIs depend on our staff to be our eyes in the pits. The more trained the eye, the better the compliance.
I don't want teams to fear the inspection process but they should be happy that all robots are held to the same standard and not worry that some team has an advantage because an inspector missed something.