Other team inspectors

[uberchris]

What do you guys think about the new team update... and how do you feel about other teams inspecting your robot? i know they are going to have 2 years experience but still.
http://www.firstubergeeks.com

[evulish]

I think it will be fine. It can give students a closer look at some of the robots and try and find what is wrong with it. Plus, if you don't think they made a correct inspection, you can argue it. Maybe this will inspire some teams not to cheat during inspections...*cough*super-light batteries*cough* I know if I was on one of those inspection teams, I'd check the battery every time. But it's a great idea and probably takes strain off FIRST.

[Ryan Albright]

personally i think to much of a hassle they are gonna make up the teams then like if a team fails you know they will apeal for some stupid reason and they will say that they are from the other team i think first is running into the problem that this is just gonna get out of control i think they should leave it like it is

[ChrisH]

I have been pushing for something like this for several years. I got tired of teams who routinely took advantage of the inspectors' comparative ignorance of the rules.

I have no problem with the former inspectors, they tried hard. Remember these were volunteers who wanted to help but didn't have time to be a full time mentor. But just reading the rules is not the same as struggling with them for six weeks trying to figure out just how you were going to accomplish X.

And yes, my money has already been placed where my mouth was. I will be inspecting at at least one regional (one my team is NOT attending), maybe more. But I'll leave you to be surprised about just where that might be.

[Sean_330]

I think the new inspection process is great. It is identical to the process that the Southern California teams go through before any SCRRF event. The inspections have gone really well for 2 years now, and we (the SCRRF) have had no major issues, in fact teams have said how much they like peer inspections! I am glad FIRST has a similr process.

[Matt Reiland]

Great to hear ChrisH,

I will be inspecting at Western MI reigonal, I totally agree that sometimes the inspectors out there were not fully up to speed, on year we were asked, "Do you have all the right motors in your robot?" We could have had 5 drills in there and no one ever looked under the shrouds. Our next door neighboor had a van door last year and made it through inspection huh??? This year everyone hopefully followed the rules closely because people that also had to live&die by the rules are doing the inspecting this year.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally posted by ChrisH
I have been pushing for something like this for several years.
And yes, my money has already been placed where my mouth was. I will be inspecting at at least one regional (one my team is NOT attending), maybe more. But I'll leave you to be surprised about just where that might be.

Great to hear Chris. Many teams have been suggesting this for years. Inspectors simply could not know what they needed to check for when the competitions began. Frequently they would reject a robot for a sharp edge somewhere and completely miss exposed wiring, or wrong size breakers. All inspectors I met would get better with time but none knew what most students know cold about the rules. Remember this is a learning process, and there are a lot of teams out there who do not even know the CD forums exist for all teams. Inspections are just a continuation of that process.

[Ryan Albright]

hey i made a post a few earlier saying this is a stupid idea but as i go thru and read these you guys have great points in that judges dont study as much as studients do and i have changed my point of veiw and it seems like a great idea

[Bruce C.]

Originally posted by Ryan_team710
hey i made a post a few earlier saying this is a stupid idea but as i go thru and read these you guys have great points in that judges dont study as much as studients do and i have changed my point of veiw and it seems like a great idea

And that is one of the most wonderful things about frank, open, civil, and informed discussion on a forum like this.

Bruce C.
BSEE 1970
Clarkson College of Technology

[Jeff Waegelin]

I think that this is a good step for FIRST. I've always been disappointed by the teams that have tried to bend the rules because they knew the inspectors wouldn't catch a lot of things. This should help keep everyone honest, and it will put the truly knowledgeable people in a position to do something.

[dez250]

i embrace this with open arms. as of being a member on a senion, 12 year team i know how teams like to bend rules for their bot. Also with this comes the next item that at any point you can have any robot reinspected if you think/know something may be illegal. finally no more teams adding wieght and illegal devices to their robots after inspection occurs!
~Michael Dessingue
Woodie Flowers Interview questions submission post!

[JVN]

Originally posted by dez250
as of being a member on a senion, 13 year team i know how teams like to bend rules for their bot.

Mike,
This is your... 12th... year as a team.

~John
250 Alumni

[soezgg]

It seems that people dont want to have to redo lots of hard work that they may have done incorrectly, I cant blame them.

But sometimes it must be done.,

[Andrew]

Although I think team based inspections are going to be a great improvement, I am filled with trepidation at the first experiment with this concept.

We will live through it, of course. Once the kinks are worked out, it will be much better than the previous system.

The good side, you will have inspectors who know the rules and know what to look for. You also have a team history. Teams which pushed the rules past the limit in earlier year competitions might get more scrutiny this year.

The bad side, how strictly different inspectors might interpret the rules and how zealously they might nit-pick. Do the inspectors take a "let's get this robot ready for competition, whatever it takes" approach?

There are some big areas open to interpretation (such as the light visibility and placement).

Also, what about the legality of parts buried deep inside the robot? I certainly don't want to do a complete disassembly of my drive system to prove all the parts are legal. I hope there's still a measure of trust and counting on a team's gracious professionalism to stay within the rules.

[Solace]

this new system looks like it'll do wonders for speeding up the process. However, I am aware of many teams that have deep-seated rivalries between them. I would hate it if this system was abused for selfish purposes...