(New)matics advice

[Wren Hensgen]

Originally Posted by rich2202

Mount the following where the Robot Inspector can easily see (read) them:

Be prepared to teach the robot inspector about pneumatic systems. At least three times in my FRC career I've had to coach an inspector through our air system, how it worked, and which rules it obeyed.

[Ari423]

Originally Posted by Wren Hensgen

Be prepared to teach the robot inspector about pneumatic systems. At least three times in my FRC career I've had to coach an inspector through our air system, how it worked, and which rules it obeyed.

Honestly, I'm not surprised at this. Since the pneumatics rules were opened up, they have been relatively lax. Instead of listing the allowed motors by part number and specifically detailing how they need to be wired, the rules allow you to use an unlimited variety of pneumatic components provided that they are rated to a high enough pressure and allows them to be connected in almost any configuration, save for a few specifications. That means every team will have different components connected in a different way threaded throughout their robot. Expecting inspectors to know the pressure ratings for every pneumatic part and being able to instantly identify how they are connected on your robot does not make sense. You know your robot a lot better than the inspectors. You need to prove to them that your robot is safe, not the other way around.

[Ben Martin]

Originally Posted by Ari423

Honestly, I'm not surprised at this. Since the pneumatics rules were opened up, they have been relatively lax. Instead of listing the allowed motors by part number and specifically detailing how they need to be wired, the rules allow you to use an unlimited variety of pneumatic components provided that they are rated to a high enough pressure and allows them to be connected in almost any configuration, save for a few specifications. That means every team will have different components connected in a different way threaded throughout their robot. Expecting inspectors to know the pressure ratings for every pneumatic part and being able to instantly identify how they are connected on your robot does not make sense. You know your robot a lot better than the inspectors. You need to prove to them that your robot is safe, not the other way around.

On this point, we now always bring datasheets for our non-standard (but compliant) pneumatic components to competitions.