Crazy Robot Inspection Stories

[JimWright949]

In Seattle last year, a team brought, what I thought at the time, their rolling tool box to the scale. They then put the tool box on the scale and I discovered that the 180 pound item on the scale, was, actually their robot.

I called a few other veteran mentors over and told the team. 'These people are here to help you loose 60 pounds of robot.'

-Jim

[Ian Curtis]

We were once told it was illegal to have two modified AndyMark shifters on our robot. The sticking point wasn't the modified though, it was the pair of $350 items.

"You can not pass us, but I can see a dozen robots from right here that won't pass either."

[Mike Betts]

Years ago, my team did a massive redesign after a pre-ship scrimmage and shipped a robot without a single wire attached. Needless to say, it was a busy day in the pits for me and my electrical team... We still had many wires loose when, at the urging of the inspectors, we began inspection (it was supposed to be a partial mechanical only).

I was soldering a wire to a motor and had a student crimping a ring lug on another wire when the inspector (on the other side of the robot from us) got to the power-up part of the checklist and told the students to power up the robot...

Which they did...

I was not a happy camper...

[EricH]

I'm sure there are probably a few from Arizona this year, due to the long line... But I'll put a couple in there.

I'm inspecting a team from Mexico. It's sometime Friday morning (I think--might have been afternoon), and they bring their robot over. I quickly spot their pneumatics issues (vent valve is in the wrong place, which is an easy fix). But then I noticed something else--their casters were mounted at the edge of the frame, creating <R16> and <G30> violations every time they swing. Move them inside? Not easy. One of the other inspectors went to find a few parts for a quick redesign. A few minutes later: "Here are the brackets, now we just need the wheels."

They got that fixed and had some lexan from another team (donated to form an upper shield) ready. I noticed another issue--the penetration restriction. Showed them how to fix that, they went off to their pit to take care of it. I went over there a while later with a soccer ball and a tape measure, and they hadn't put it on yet--it was ready, just not on. I helped them place the barrier, then went back to inspection. A few minutes later, they came to find an inspector. This time, they passed.

It can also get crazy when the FTA wants to know when the "You can bring your robot in, but it has to be in pieces" was enacted, while you're in the middle of inspecting a team. (He got the answer after I was done with that inspection.)

[FRC4ME]

At VCU this year, 619 wasn't doing very well - we basically had to rebuild the robot on Thursday - and by noon on Friday the inspectors were doing everything they could to let us go out on the field. So they let us sit on the field (and gain seeding points) with the bumpers ziptied to the robot - provided we promised not to drive with it that way. We didn't, and someone gave us a safety token for "not endangering other teams."

At the same regional, I watched 339 and the inspectors argue for about 30 minutes over whether the red light proximity sensors from previous years were legal. The inspectors didn't think they were because they required a 12V supply but didn't have the necessary gauge wire for a 20 amp breaker. The problem is, there smallest 12V supply on the robot is a 20 amp breaker. Eventually, the inspectors found a clause in the manual that permitted the use of any wiring provided it came already attached to the device.

And of course, I can't count the number of times I've witnessed the classic: "OMG WE'RE SO OVERWEIGHT - oh wait, the battery's in...whew."

[EricH]

Originally Posted by FRC4ME

And of course, I can't count the number of times I've witnessed the classic: "OMG WE'RE SO OVERWEIGHT - oh wait, the battery's in...whew."

There were a number of teams at Arizona that could have passed weight with both battery and bumpers aboard.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I got a million of em!
I am leaving the rookie stories out of this post since it is not really fair. So here goes...
Eight CIM motors. "Rules says you can use the KOP motors and identical spares."
Non KOP motors because the KOP motors aren't strong enough
Robot is 6-8 inches too long.
Robot is 150+ lbs because they used a bathroom scale and interpolated the readings for each wheel.
Robot is 136 lbs and the engineering mentor tells his students not to listen to the LRI, they will play anyway and no one can stop them. Queuers do not like robots with no inspection sticker.
Robots with two or more batteries.
Robot with a 2" x 40" pneumatic actuator, inspection turned it into ballast.
Fifteen wheels on the floor last year. OK, it passed but it didn't drive very well.
Bumpers at last year's elevation, in black, with no numbers, made out of 1x6 pine.
Circular saw blades for wheels, "But they really grab the carpet!".
Aluminum box for chassis with the radio inside. Has been happening for years.
Battery used for counter weight on a moving arm to help hold robot on pipe. This was actually legal that year.
Chain sprockets used for ball handler. Reminded team of rule specifying no damage to field or game pieces.
Bumpers made of one pool noodle to conserve weight. Found steel inside bumper.
SUV winch for lifting with 1/2 HP motor. This year was not the first year for this.
Bumpers made out of stained and varnished 2x6 lumber. Furniture grade but not legal.
The entire robot from the 120 amp breaker on, wired with #18 wire. "We have tons of it so we used it."
I could go on and on....

[ALTrammell818]

Our electronics team wired the game controller wrong. It shouldn't have passed inspection. Due to this we didn't run throughout Traverse City. We also passed inspection at Wayne State. Shortly through Detroit some of the field crew found the problem.

It was a sad moment when we realized that the inspectors should have noticed the problem and not let us pass due to the issue.

[pathew100]

This year, a mentor walked up to me (inspector) in the pits:

"The team next to us showed up and dropped off their robot and left. It's last year's robot. I remember because we helped them build it here at last year's event."

Sure enough, in their pit was a robot that had slick wheels and a trailer hitch on it....

[Jon Stratis]

Two items from our robot this year:
- Both sets of bumpers weigh exactly the same - this drew a little surprise from the inspectors!
- Al's gonna hate this... but our radio is essentially buried in the middle of a big aluminum box this year. From testing though, we had no signal problems, and no problems on the field!

[quinxorin]

I once saw a robot wired entirely with green wire (which, stranger still, wasn't one of thier team colors).

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Battery used for counter weight on a moving arm to help hold robot on pipe. This was actually legal that year.

I've always wanted to do that, because I know it would bother people. To bad my 2008 trebuchet with a battery counter weight got over ruled...

[dtengineering]

1) I inspected a robot... in Atlanta... that didn't have a pressure relief valve anywhere in their pneumatic system. Fortunately they had it with them in their supplies, and were quite appreciative to have someone explain what it was and what it did. It wouldn't have been crazy to see this at a regional... but in Atlanta? Thank goodness for inspections, eh?

2) A crazy good story, though was the time we carelessly re-used a 3/4" pneumatic cylinder on our Rack'n'Roll robot that was either 1/2" too long or too short for the pneumatic specs of that year's competition. It cleared tech in Portland no problem (hey... I'd missed it, too... it was a pretty minor thing) but got nabbed by the very careful inspectors at GTR. We had a spare at home that was the right size... but home was on the other side of the country.

Tristan Lall was the lead inspector. He took a look at the problem, pulled out his cell phone, made a couple calls and said, "Talk to ______ at ______. Here's the address, they have a legal one waiting for you." A mentor ran out at lunch, and we were legal that afternoon. The robot actually performed better with the slightly shorter stroke cylinder. Who woulda thunk it?

3) I was at a competition where a team was 30 pounds overweight. Not a big deal... except they were an all-girls team and quickly became known as "The girls with the weight problem." at least until we realized how easily that could be taken out of context. (If only I could shed weight as quickly as they did!)

Jason

[JohnBoucher]

[quote=Al Skierkiewicz;941858
Circular saw blades for wheels, "But they really grab the carpet!".[/quote]

OMG We ARE Battlebots !!!

[Rick Wagner]

In 2003 I was a rookie mentor on a legacy team (294, world champions in '01) at the Arizona Regional. At 6 PM on Thursday the robot had failed inspection a couple of times and we were working off the list of items needing fixing. The pits were open 'til 8 that evening, and I was asked to stay with a couple of students to finish up and get the robot inspected while the rest of the team went out to dinner. Just before the pits closed, we got the robot up to the inspection station, and found one more item needing fixing. The pneumatic system pressure gage was mounted under the robot facing the floor so it couldn't be read! That's how a rookie mentor pays his dues.