Al's Annual Inspection Thread

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by magnets

I agree, there are no robots out there that are perfect.
You're saying that inspectors need to make sure that when the robot malfunctions, it's safe.

So, let's look at another malfunction. If my robot were to try to fire a ball as the intake was stowed, I'd break my intake. Does the inspector need to watch me break my robot that way too?

However, dry firing my shooter will break it, but pose no safety hazard.

This whole test is a bit stupid. It's kind of like asking teams to drop their robots from the top of the pyramid to make sure that when it falls, it isn't dangerous.

The difference is that a robot on the pyramid has a large amount of potential energy that could end up directed as kinetic energy towards the ground (or maybe onto another robot), where a spring or winch on the robot stores a lot of potential energy that is many times directed upwards and at an angle, which could potentially go towards any number of volunteers, human players, or audience members.