Different levels of passing inspection

[marccenter]

Al,

Thanks for your inspirational response. This was my first year inspecting robots (Livonia, MI), although I have coached and/or mentored for 8 years. My first time experience this year at Livonia was very inspiring for me and the teams I inspected. I am looking forward to inspecting next year with some of the great inspectors I worked with at Livonia and am sure exist in all of FIRST.

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Rich,
I am sorry you misunderstood the message. It is our intention that everyone that shows up (and some that we have to drag to events), play with the same considerations and standards.

Thanks for your response Al. It kind of clarifies, but as a first time inspector, I am having trouble understanding what is the standard. Is the standard at the Championship 100% compliant (except for really minor violations like bumpers sagging below 2")?

As to the team you keep bringing up as an example, (please do not use their location or team number) ...

I only brought them up as a positive example of a good reason to bend the rules at Regionals. I was glad to learn that FIRST bends over backwards to give every team a good experience at the REGIONALS. I agree that we should give as much help as we can to all teams, and be as flexible as we can at the REGIONALS.

What if that team had received the Rookie award and showed up at the Championship? While we should continue to do all we can to help the team, I think the Championship should have a much narrower grey area, a minimum basic standard all teams are required to meet. Warn a team like that at the end of Regionals that if they show up at Championship, they will have a hard time passing inspection. If they still decide to show up, then that is their choice, and if they have a bad experience, that is the risk they took.

If the expansion of fields in 2015 allows for a dedicated Rookie division, then I think the Rookie division can be given the same leeway as the Regionals. If a Rookie makes it to St. Louis, then have fun competing safely, even if they are not 100% compliant.

So here is the only equation that works in First. First inspires students only if they are here. ... So how do inspectors help with this process? I want them to believe they are a member of every team on the floor. They need to inspect for compliance but also help teams in need as if they were a mentor on the team. If they can't come up with a solution, then they turn to the LRI. If the LRI can't come up with a solution, they can turn to me and so on up the chain.

So, the charge is: Inspect for safety and compliance, help teams to get safe/compliant, and if I can't, then ask a LRI for help.

That works on Wednesday. What about Thursday when the match is in a few minutes (no time to fix the problem)? If I know what the standard is, then I can make the call to allow the team to compete.

On Thursday morning, at 7:00 am, I was given a team to sit with until the pneumatics system passed inspection. Been there, done that, so I was eager to help. It was not until 8:30 when the relevant members arrived (the ones with the keys to unlock the equipment and driver's station). So, I had 1 hour to clear the team before their first qualifications match.

Had we not been able to fix the problem in time, the LRI would have had 3 possible options: 1) Do not pass inspection (not safe, not compliant); 2) Adjust the pressure relief valve to 115-120 PSI (safe, but not compliant); or 3) Remove the fuse for the compressor (safe and compliant). As long as I know the standard, it is not a hard call to make. Option 2 is the easy one for a Regional. If there is a higher standard for the Championship, then Option 3 would be the call.

20 minutes before their QM, their pneumatics worked, and they wanted to work on controlling their arm. I told them to get on the field and just drive. In the queuing line (I stayed with them because they had not yet attempted to connect to the field - missed practice match), I noticed their arm was non-compliant in the starting configuration. My options then were: 1) DQ them; and 2) Let them play (since another inspector had already passed them for Starting Configuration). I told them it was up to the Ref's, and they were least likely to get called on it if they started in the Goalie Zone.

On a separate note: I occasionally checked robots in the queue for a loose battery (no dragging battery problems on the field I watched). For most of the violations, a team forgot to strap it down, but at least they had a strap. There was one team that did not have a compliant restraining mechanism, and was lax on using the zip tie solution provided by the LRI. Had they come to each match with the battery zip tied in (or at least with a bunch of zip ties on the cart), I would have been happy. After the third time, I felt like disqualifying them from any match where they showed up with an unrestrained battery.

"play with the same considerations and standards." - Having two levels of inspection that is clearly communicated to the teams, IMHO, helps everyone to play with the same considerations and standards. Rookie teams know they do not have to sweat the minor stuff and will get to play as long as they are safe (I would even let them be a pound or two over). Veteran teams would know that they have to be virtually 100% compliant to participate in the elimination rounds, and they get 2+ days to fix any problems before the penalty kicks in (elimination rounds).

[Jon Stratis]

Rich, you seem to be making it harder than it is. A team is either compliant or they aren't... and when they aren't it becomes your job, as an inspector, to work with them to get them compliant, or to bring the issue up with the LRI. The manual specifically states "At each event, the Lead ROBOT Inspector (LRI) has final authority on the legality of any COMPONENT, MECHANISM, or ROBOT." This is done, not so the LRI can loosen the rules and ignore them, but so the LRI can utilize his/her experience and training to interpret the rules given the context provided by the team's robot.

In your example with pneumatics, the generally accepted clear choice for non-compliant pneumatics is to pull the breaker and dump the air. A team can go out there and drive around to play defense without air, then come back and continue to work on getting the pneumatics compliant.

There is only one standard for compliance with the rules, and as inspectors we can't treat rookies different from veteran teams - with student and mentor turn over, sometimes veteran teams really should be considered rookies. Rookies do need to sweat the small stuff... the difference is that we're right there sweating with them. Teams in general bend over backwards for rookies, and by sweating the small stuff you give everyone at the competition a chance to work together, experience what FIRST is all about, and have some fun getting robots fixed. In my three years as an LRI, every rookie at my events has become fully compliant with the rules, gotten to experience gracious professionalism first hand through assistance from other teams, and had a good time doing it.

Please remember - inspectors are there to find the issues and help the teams. LRI's are there to handle the issues when they become a serious problem.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Rich,
While we make the effort to get rookies compliant while we are letting them play with restrictions, I expect all LRIs to insure that they leave the event fully compliant. That is part of the experience as well. As Jon pointed out earlier, when you come to the Champs you are "in the show", you must meet the rules even if that means some functionality is temporarily disabled. That is where my experienced LRIs earn their money.
Bar none, the biggest issue with teams are those that leave the pits early without being inspected (or on occasion, functional) and then return the next day after opening ceremonies or the first match. All of us have that experience more often than I want. We cannot complete inspection without your students and driver's station. If you are not there, our hands are tied. I did inspect a team who had not arrived due to travel problems, up to the point I needed driver's station for power on tests. Luckily it was a simple robot and the team had help from another team that was able to open the crate and unpack the robot.
Rookies cease to be rookies when the Finale at Champs starts.