[ChuckDickerson]

FIRST is supposed to be a microcosm of the real world so read the “rules” more like “customer design specifications”. If a customer asks you to build a part that must fit in a particular space then it must fit in that space. If it has to weigh no more than so much it has to weigh no more than that, period. The sizing box and scale are the easy ones but every year plenty of teams still show up at competition that don’t fit and are over weight. That won’t fly in the real world. You can’t deliver a part to a customer and say “Yeah, we know it doesn’t fit and is too heavy but it’s close so will you still pay us?”

Read every single word of the “customer design specifications” carefully and fully understand them before you start designing and building anything. Don’t assume that new customer’s design specifications (this year’s “rules”) are the same as the last customer’s needs (last years “rules”) even if the customer is the same and they are asking you to build a similar part (let’s say bumpers to continue this example). If everyone would do this then the inspector’s job would be easy and there really should be no need for inspectors by the time you get to the Championships. Trust me the inspectors job is anything but easy and there are PLENTY of robots at the Championships that somehow passed inspection at one or often times more than one regional but aren’t legal when they uncrate at the big show. If an inspector lets you slide on this rule or that rule at your early regional(s) they aren’t doing you or any or your future alliance partners any favors because sooner or later you and some random alliance partners are going to pay the price when you don’t make a match due to not passing inspection further down the road.

We all know there are always rules that don’t exactly make any competitive difference like the “only team numbers on the bumpers rule” but those are the customer design specifications so that should be the way they are done. The FIRST GDC spent almost 3 pages on the bumpers for a reason. They wanted them a certain way so we should all build them as such. It is perfectly clear at the inspection station which teams actually read the bumper rules and included them I their early design process and which teams left them as a complete after thought and just slapped something on there whether or not it was even close to being legal. Folks, I’m pretty sure bumpers are here to stay. Include them in your design process from the beginning. Don’t leave them as a week 6 afterthought. The number one problem delaying the inspection process this year was bumpers.

Wire color also comes to mind as something that on an individual robot basis probably makes no difference, however, if the customer design specifications require purple and yellow wire you better not deliver a part with pink and green wire or you won’t get paid.

Does it really matter if your school name/organization and sponsor logos aren’t proudly displayed on your machine? Probably not in terms of field play but besides the fact that we should all be proud of our teams and schools and we owe it to our sponsors the recognize them the customer design specifications call for them to be displayed on the robot so, yep, they better be there. Consider that some of the rules that we think are “useless” and “silly” may just be sprinkled in among the others by the GDC to keep us on our toes.

I HIGHLY recommend that more experienced team mentors follow Al’s advice and volunteer next year as inspectors at the competitions. You will gain tremendous insight into the process and it can really only help your own team in the long run to have an experienced inspector mentoring your team. They will be forced to know and follow the rules to the letter. It also elevates the whole level of play when all teams are held to the same high standards.

Teams should not fear the inspectors and the inspection process. They should welcome it and enjoy it as if they are showing of their creation to someone who is truly interested in the intricate details of how it works. Teams should build their machines in HOPES of being the first one inspected, as the model to follow, and as the machine used to train all the rookie inspectors on what it looks like when the rules are followed to the letter. The inspectors are your friends, not the bad guys. Also keep in mind that if you are having problems don’t be afraid to go to the inspectors for help. They will do their best to get you connected to whatever resource you are in need of to solve your problem.

So finally, YES, read the rules, know the rules and then follow the rules to the letter. If you see something at a competition that you feel doesn’t follow the rules and especially if it is giving another team an unfair advantage on the field it is your right to point it out to the LRI. Be polite, not petty and trite, and have a copy of the specific rule handy if possible. The inspectors always want to see all the teams make their matches but ultimately it is their job to enforce the rules fairly and evenly as best as they can. Please keep in mind though that teams have weeks to design and build their machines where inspectors have mere minutes to try to catch any infraction on dozens of machines they have never seen before. Everyone makes mistakes.