Crazy Robot Inspection Stories

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by Foster

Exactly! Engineering is about the details. I hope that the engineer in training that will be designing the life support system that will save me in 10 years is a stickler for the details. I don't want the last words I hear to be "Picky Picky Picky."

sorry- but this isn't a life support system. It is painted numbers on a bumper. I think there are far more important design issues that most of our teams need to worry about than whether the numbers are outlined or not.

and yes- this is ridiculously picky about a trivial item with nothing to do with the function of the game and represents just one more "gotcha" kind of thing for the kids to worry about. If there needs to be one exact set of specs for everything why don't we just get a prefab kit so the FIRST people will get the exact design they develop the rules for. It would save them the money for the Xerox Creativity Award.

WC

[Katie_UPS]

We were weighing in towards the end of Wisconsin this year to see how much weight we could play with for upgrades. Apparently we were all of a sudden 20 pounds over. The inspectors realized that the air was compressed, so let that out and it dropped to ten pounds over weight...


Then the inspector took his foot off the scale.

[Jeff Pahl]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

We were weighing in towards the end of Wisconsin this year to see how much weight we could play with for upgrades. Apparently we were all of a sudden 20 pounds over. The inspectors realized that the air was compressed, so let that out and it dropped to ten pounds over weight...


Then the inspector took his foot off the scale.

The tricky part was for Chris to only let off some of the weight after I told you guys to let the air out...

And Kevin Kolodziej's reaction when you figured out what was going on was priceless

[FRC4ME]

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.

Originally Posted by Peter Matteson

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...

In 2009, 339 mounted their battery and electronics on a pneumatic slide that would shift the entire assembly left or right six inches to decrease our moment of inertia when turning on the slippery field. We not only passed inspection, but won Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology...in Atlanta.

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

We were weighing in towards the end of Wisconsin this year to see how much weight we could play with for upgrades. Apparently we were all of a sudden 20 pounds over. The inspectors realized that the air was compressed, so let that out and it dropped to ten pounds over weight...


Then the inspector took his foot off the scale.

Originally Posted by Jeff Pahl

The tricky part was for Chris to only let off some of the weight after I told you guys to let the air out...

And Kevin Kolodziej's reaction when you figured out what was going on was priceless

This is hilarious. Good to know inspectors have a sense of humor, too. The funny thing is, I probably would have been shocked: "I didn't know air weighed so much!"

It also reminds me of earlier this year when we weighed our crate. The rest of us had to leave the room to avoid bursting out laughing as we watched three engineers scratch their heads wondering how they had miscalculated the weight by 240 lbs, when one of them was standing inside the crate on the scale.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by FRC4ME

This is hilarious. Good to know inspectors have a sense of humor, too. The funny thing is, I probably would have been shocked: "I didn't know air weighed so much!"

The tough part was Chris Paulik was laughing so hard but trying to hold it in, that the scale was actually moving around a pound or two. I kept telling the team that their robot appeared to be breathing and that they must have added a "foot" of something to the robot and they still didn't get it.
Well guys we got another one!

[thefro526]

I don't really have any crazy inspection stories but, In 2008 we got our first regional and were informed that all of our drive motors had been wired incorrectly... So, it took us about 2 hours to rewire everything before we could compete.

My favorite inspection moment ever was at the Championship in 2008. We put our robot on the scale and weighed 120.1 lbs. Before the inspector had a chance to say anything I ripped (zip tied on) a 12" x 8" piece of decorative lexan off of the back of the robot... We weighed 120 lbs even. (She then proceeded to tell me that the scales were slightly off and anything within a tenth of a pound was acceptable..)

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by Jeff Pahl

The tricky part was for Chris to only let off some of the weight after I told you guys to let the air out...

And Kevin Kolodziej's reaction when you figured out what was going on was priceless

The worst part? Kevin coming over to the pit to tell us all the (fake) bad news to stir us into a frantic rage.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Wayne C.

sorry- but this isn't a life support system. It is painted numbers on a bumper. I think there are far more important design issues that most of our teams need to worry about than whether the numbers are outlined or not.

and yes- this is ridiculously picky about a trivial item with nothing to do with the function of the game and represents just one more "gotcha" kind of thing for the kids to worry about. If there needs to be one exact set of specs for everything why don't we just get a prefab kit so the FIRST people will get the exact design they develop the rules for. It would save them the money for the Xerox Creativity Award.

WC

Actually, having a prefab kit for bumpers come in the KOP would be pretty handy. Or you know, getting rid of bumpers all together.

While I agree it is a trivial nit-picky type thing the rules clearly state it. I think many inspectors are being too lenient with bumper colors and contrast this year though. I have seen blue bumpers that I swear were black. I also saw bumpers that there was no contrast between the numbers and the bumper color. Im sorry but it really isn't that hard to make sure your numbers are easy to read and your bumpers are the right color.

[ChrisR_522]

Awesome thread.

I must say, sometimes the inspectors are a little over their heads. Especially when they're younger and out to prove themselves. I understand rules are rules, but sometimes they push it, rules aside!

[martin417]

Originally Posted by Just a Mom

Another team put on numbers from the hardware store. They were black and white and really easy to read. You can't have two colors so they had to take the numbers off, cut off all the white and put the numbers back on. At least the numbers were black so they could make them wider with a sharpie. Without the contrast it was hard to see them on the blue but they met the rules.

What rule says that? the only rule about bumper marking is:

<R15> Teams shall display their team number on the BUMPERS in four
locations at approximately 90-degree intervals around the perimeter of the ROBOT. The numerals must be at least 4 inches high, at least in ¾-inch stroke width and in a contrasting color from its background. Team Numbers must be clearly visible from a distance of not less than 100 feet, so that judges, referees, and announcers can easily identify competing ROBOTS.

If an inspector says something is illegal on your robot, it is your responsibility to confirm it. Ask the inspector (politely and respectfully) to show you the rule in question and explain how you violate that rule. If you don't agree with his or her interpretation, talk to the head inspector. If he agrees with the inspector, go fix your problem.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by martin417

What rule says that? the only rule about bumper marking is:



If an inspector says something is illegal on your robot, it is your responsibility to confirm it. Ask the inspector (politely and respectfully) to show you the rule in question and explain how you violate that rule. If you don't agree with his or her interpretation, talk to the head inspector. If he agrees with the inspector, go fix your problem.

The inspector training material and the actual rules don't always match up 100%. Some of these issues stem from the training material being slightly out of date or different because of when it was written. If the inspector is not fully involved with a team build they may not realize some of these differences, but the published rules are the governing document per inspector training.

In the case of the number color issue though I believe that stemmed from a Q&A that most people didn't see.

[martin417]

Originally Posted by Peter Matteson

The inspector training material and the actual rules don't always match up 100%. Some of these issues stem from the training material being slightly out of date or different because of when it was written. If the inspector is not fully involved with a team build they may not realize some of these differences, but the published rules are the governing document per inspector training.

In the case of the number color issue though I believe that stemmed from a Q&A that most people didn't see.

I looked up the Q&A you mentioned, and it specifically allows the use of two colors (as long as the main color meets the size requirements). Again, all teams should be prepared to defend their position with documentation.

Rule <R15> requires that the body of the number (the part that is ≥4 inches tall and with ≥3/4 inch stroke width) be of "a" (single) contrasting color. Adding small borders of a highly contrasting color around the external perimeter of the number for the purposes of increasing the contrast and clarity of the number would not violate the rule, as long as the addition of the contrasting border does not reduce the size or stroke width of the body of the number.

[Kims Robot]

I think my favorite was when I ran inspections at Championships in 2000. We sat down in our volunteers meeting at the end of the day Thursday to review everything and what needed to be done for tomorrow.
Eric from FIRST to me: "How are Inspections going?"
Me: "Good, we are done."
Eric from FIRST: "How many robots are left to finish inspecting?"
Me: "None"
Eric from FIRST: "Oh, how many are left for the morning?"
Me: "None, they are all inspected!"
Eric from FIRST *Baffled Look on his Face*
They had never finished ALL of the inspections on Thursday before!!

Second Favorite - I was an inspector at the Long Island Regional in 2001 and there was this crazy orange & black rookie team from Rochester NY that had THREE different robot configurations, they came up to do weight and size, and I had to figure out how to scribble all this on the inspection sheet. They put the last one in the box, and it was out by like 6 inches! Their crazy lead mentor tried kicking it and shoving it and pushing the box. I laughed and suggested they had time to go back and fix it. I think they came back 6 more times (made me laugh every time) before either giving up on it or just barely making it (Jason remind me!). At Championships they saw me walking by and wanted to grab me for a photo saying "I was their nicest robot inspector ever" or something like that. I still need to dig out a copy of that photo

[Daniel_LaFleur]

At GSR this year we were told by the inspector that we needed to have a sticker with our team name on it. He was misinterpreting <R14>, but to appease him (and to have a little fun) we took a band-aid from our first aid kit, stuck it on the robot, and wrote "Plan B" (our team name) on it.

... we passed inspection

[JesseK]

No really 'crazy' stories here, though I can relate to Al's anecdote about using all 12-gauge wire just because we have a ton of it.

And we've definitely helped several teams put together their box on wheels. I originally thought someone was talking about 116's rookie year and their first trip to the Championships in Orlando. Here Dave recounts tales of doing just that (but for different reasons) and how a team helped them put it together.

2007, we were 0.1lbs under the limit. The inspector at VCU kept messing with us by tapping the robot, making it go over the limit by 0.1lbs.

In general in FTC, zipties and loose cords fail the sizing rules for teams just as much as teams who have frame members beyond 18". It's more of a "doh!" moment though.

DC Regional, 2010. The lead inspector told us his interpretation of the intent of the digitization of the BoM, which was so that FIRST could create statistics based upon usage and create next year's KOP accordingly. So as we were off to create an Excel file that would meet those implied needs, he tells us 'Just scan your paper copy in. They didn't specify what digital format!'