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Unread 28-03-2006, 17:16
sw293 sw293 is offline
Former Coach (2005)
AKA: Scott Weingart
FRC #0293 (SPIKE)
Team Role: College Student
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: Pennington, NJ
Posts: 123
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Re: Concerning Whistleblowing

At Annapolis team 293 found ourselves in picking position after Friday. During the scouting meeting Friday night we discussed concerns about two robots' compliance with <R32>. Both were on our list of teams we thought we might pick, so we made it a point to look at each team's robot the next morning (conducting our own inspection), and we asked one of the teams to make sure with the inspectors that their robot did not violate <R32>. Even though we believed their robot did not violate the rules, it was still important for us (and them) to know they were not going to get disqualified in an elimination match should some time finger them for the percieved (possibly nonexistent) rule violation. We learned this lesson (at the expense of another team) in Trenton.

At Trenton during the elimination rounds, we in good faith challenged a team on their main battery, which was obviously not from the kit of parts. The ref disqualified their battery, and forced them to use the kit battery instead. Turns out we were probably wrong:
Quote:
<R51> The only legal main source of electrical energy on the robot is the 12VDC non-spillable lead acid battery provided in the Kit of Parts. That 12V battery is the Exide type EX18-12. The ES18-12 battery, purchased through your local Exide supplier as a spare, is identical and may also be used.
Likewise, inspectors make mistakes during inspection. Sometimes they overlook things. Sometimes they make a mistake because they don't fully know and understand the rules, just as our drivers did when they challenged the other team's batteries, and just as the ref did when he said they couldn't use the batteries.

A side note: There is a fundamental difference between the roles of referee and inspector. The referee makes irreversible, binding decisions, i.e. his word is "final" and even if you have a irrefutable argument that one of his calls was wrong. This is not unreasonable, because a ref must quickly make decisions even where he is not fully informed of the facts on the field (i.e. he doesn't get to use instant replay). Because the head ref must make these irreversible "final" calls, he should know and understand these rules (those in "The Game") more thoroughly than 99.99% of the coaches, drivers, human players, scouts, mentors, judges and spectators in the arena. If an inspector refuses to pass your robot, but then you show him that because of rule X your robot should be permitted, I have a hunch the inspector will listen to your argument. If you have a good point, he will probably pass your robot. You see, the people who will be the most well-versed on the rules of "The Robot" are necessarily those who built a robot according to those rules. Unless an inspector either took a especially active role in building a robot or participated in making the rules himself, he will likely know less about these rules and their nuances, interpretations, and applications than the members on each team that worked for six weeks to build a robot consistent with all of those rules. If a ref is wrong on a call on the field, there is no recourse, but if an inspector is wrong in one of his decisions, there is. This is why a robot that has passed inspection can be declared illegal on the playing field before a match. You even have a place arguing the decision of a referee on an interpretation of "The Robot", but you must have a copy of the rules on hand and be able to explain why your robot upholds them in order to successfully make your case. If the team whose battery we had challenged had ready a copy of rule <R51>, then the head ref would have allowed their batteries.

Back on the subject of whistleblowing, FIRST has written a rule on what you should do should you suspect a team is in violation of the robot rules:
Quote:
<R107> ...If you observe that another team’s robot may be in violation of the robot rules, please approach FIRST officials to review the matter in question. This is an area where “Gracious Professionalism” is very important."
Team 293 didn't adhere to this rule literally when we approached the team we had a concern about in Annapolis. But FIRST also has the following to say about the robot rules:
Quote:
When reading these Rules, please use technical common sense (engineering thinking) rather than a lawyer's interpretation. Try to understand the reasoning behind a rule.
It does not take a genius to understand the reasoning behind of R107: "This is an area where “Gracious Professionalism” is very important." In Annapolis we certainly thought it more in the interest of gracious professionalism to approach the team with our concerns, so they could bring the issue up with inspectors prepared. In Trenton, we brought our (misplaced) concerns about a team's batteries to a FIRST official, forcing a quick, unprepared decision--a decision that turned out to be wrong. If you have concerns about a team's robot, whenever you are in a position to do it politely you should bring it to the attention of that team first.
__________________
Team 293
Uncrowned Champions, 2005 Philadelphia Regional
Champions, 2007 Chesapeake Regional

Last edited by sw293 : 28-03-2006 at 17:28. Reason: to emphasize important points and fix punctuation
 


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