Since not all team got their LEDs, It is important for everyone to bring any extra LEDs (including last year’s) To their regionals. FIRST has relaxed the requirement, but it makes everyone’s job easier, including inspectors, refs, and anyone trying to debug hardware/software problems. Having LEDs makes the competition run faster for everyone. IF you have an extra set, please bring them to your regional, so that everyone can participate and enjoy the event with the best possible results.
I am Chief Robot Inspector at SVR and Sacramento - good luck all.
Yes, the local inspectors and refs at GLR made the LED required for our event. I agree, without it there is no way of telling whether a robot is powered on or not.
I miss the rotating bubble light. From a safety standpoint, there was no mistaking whether a robot was powered on or not!
The Team LEDs will be highly recommended at Midwest and Milwaukee. It helps IFI determine the status of your robot and it lets field officials know your robot is powered.
I, personally, was somewhat surprised by the refs taking matters into their own hands and changing a pretty clearly stated rule like that. I can’t dispute that the LEDs are extremely useful, but that was a little distressing.
I was a little upset about it being required at GLR becuase FIRSTS rules did not require it. I understand the concern, but the regionals aren’t supposed to make specific rules that aren’t in agreement with FIRST’s. We ended up borrowing one from spare parts the first day and snagged the one from our shop for the next day. Luckily we were about a pound under at our first weigh in so we weren’t over weight.
At least a couple teams asked at Pit Admin where they could get one - the KOP? We told them not to worry about having one because Q&A had made it optional. Another bit of misinformation due to miscommunication. Sorry for anyone we confused this week.
