About being overweight and exceeding your size requirements – the need for reinspecti

[Dillon Compton]

Originally Posted by Billfred

It could be.

Personally, I'm wondering just how bad it'd be if teams had to weigh in before each match. Just drop your robot on the scale, make weight, and pick it back up to go onto the field. Probably would take a second scale, though.

Considering the rather startling disparity in calibration and sensitivity of scales from regional to regional, this worries me; the addition of adding a second weight in pre match will have 2 potential effects:

1.) The scales match perfectly, the re-weight accomplishes its objective- match resets/changeovers are delayed (although, perhaps NOT if re-weigh was at the last stage of qeue?), and everyone gets to play less matches. We get less for our reg. fees, and everyone goes home a little less satisfied. The spirit of first has taken a hit, and GP is 'enforced'.

2.) the scales dont match, and robots that were inspected at exactly 120lbs go over- robots are unfairly DQed, and arguments ensue; matches are delayed MORE than in case 1, and everyone gets to play even fewer matches. Teams DQed/not allowed to play thanks to a field-scale ruling are dissatisfied, since they already passed inspection once, and 6 hard weeks of work are thrown into the team's collective face, based on what, one would assume, is a minor weight difference between scales.


I DONT see this as viable, and I have a plethora of questions, suggestions, and clarifications that I will be contacting FIRST with if it becomes apparent that pre-match re-weighs will be standard next year.

Sure, the above team was heinously out of line- I've heard other stories about teams putting empty batteries on the robot for weigh in (when batteries were included in bot weight), adding extra motors post weigh in (even, apparently, motors BEYOND what was supplied in KoP), etc...

This means a few things: One. We, as a community, need to encourage EVERYONE to embrace GP- we know it is not all about winning, so let us make sure that everyone knows this. Additionally, take it upon yourselves to bring potential violations first to the team's attention, in a non-aggressive manner ("Hey, did you know that we did not get drill motors in the KoP this year? We've got a spare window motor if you want to swap it out...", etc...), and then to the head inspectors attention ("Hey, team XXXX had a 2004 drill motor on their 'bot- I reminded them it wasnt legal this year and offered them a replacement motor that is legal this year- just wanted to give you the heads up"). Additionally, I would support announcements being made regarding dishonest and illegal behavior prior to the start of selection; I would hope that none of us would choose a robot that had been running an extra motor or 15lbs overweight during alliance pairings, just because they were highly seeded.

This sort of thing is something that we can solve at a community level by doing the best we can do within the rules, and proving to everyone else that it is about the fun, the experience, and the inspiration and enjoyment that all of us students get out of FIRST- not about winning the matches by any means possible.

"Be the change you wish to see"
-Mahatma Ghandi

Lets do this, folks- this is not the place to flame, or to raise questions about other team's dishonest behavior- this is not the arena in which we need to take out our rage or dissapointment- let us just remember to do what we can, and encourage everyone to remember what FIRST strives to be.

To the author of this thread; thank you for bringing this issue to the community's attention, and I would suggest that in the future, if this occurs, you make it known to other teams at the regional, or simply refuse inspection of the robot- no exceptions should be made. Had I been in your situation, I'd have refused it at the "conditional pass" step, methinks; they are rules. We need to follow them, however dissapointing it is, or however bad you feel, telling that robot to loose the 13lbs before comp.


Just my $.02

Dillon Compton
Team 1394