Precharging

[Ari423]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Jesse,
Inspectors are trained to inspect all plastic tanks to insure that a team hasn't used one of the tanks that disintegrates. We are still finding them on robots.
R77
K. Pneumatic storage tanks (with the exception of White Clippard tanks P/N: AVT-PP-41)

Most teams haven't heard of this practice because only a few venues require it. This is similar to the power restrictions at some venues.
Some teams who have never used pneumatics before have issues where major parts of their robot move during pressurization. I don't think anyone here would want to be standing in the queue when a robot next to them bangs a student in the back or head.

I agree that I would not appreciate getting hit in the head, but I still agree with Jesse. Is is very possible to charge a pneumatic system with little to no danger. There are much more dangerous things that are allowed in queue (I've seen teams run flywheels, test their drivetrains, etc). Of course if an inspector observes an unsafe charging pneumatic system, they should instruct a team to make it safe or not allow it, but that should stand for any system that isn't safe. I don't see the need for special rules at some events outlawing all pre-charging pneumatic systems. I appreciate FIRST's desire for my safety, but sometimes they do more than they need to.

The bigger problem I have is the secrecy around this rule. If this is going to be a rule at some events, it should say in the Game Manual which events will be following this rule. I know last year it took my team almost 5 minutes to fully charge our pneumatic system. This was fine because we knew (or at least thought we knew) that we would be allowed to pre-charge in the pits and in queue. If we got to our event and we found out that we weren't allowed to pre-charge, we would not have had a fieldable robot. It's one thing if the teams know about this in advance and can design with this in mind (like we do with all of the other rules), but its completely different when this rule is sprung on us when we get to competition.