Last year, after a very active (and productive!) discussion around the inspection process, we saw an influx of mentors and alumni volunteer as Robot Inspectors at their events. Volunteering as a robot inspector is a relatively low commitment as volunteer roles go since you only need to do it for one day.
Volunteering as a Robot Inspector is a win-win-win for mentors:
Mentors gain valuable insight into the inspection process which can help with their own team
Events benefit from having an infusion of qualified volunteers for a position that needs many people for a single day
Other teams at the event benefit from having a robot inspector who has team experience and “gets it”
Since the topic of inspection isn’t as flashy right now as it was at this time last year, at least my event (the Orange County Regional) isn’t seeing the same influx of applicants to this role. So, I wanted to post this to make it top of mind once again.
At Regionals, the minimum commitment is a full day on practice day. That means mentors can inspect on practice day and then be back with their team for all of qualifications and playoffs!
If you’re a mentor and can afford to step away from your team on practice day, many events would love to have you. Please sign up at Volunteer Home | FIRST or contact your friendly neighborhood VC.
Oh, and if you apply and get assigned by January 31st, you’ll maximize your time for completing the training ahead of your event – which also means you can get certified during build season which may help you make sure your own team is in compliance!
There is no better preparation for Inspecting than building… and, really, when your team is going to be inspected wouldn’t you rather have the person doing the inspection be someone who knows the effort that you’ve put into your machine? Someone who can help you figure out solutions to any inspection-related issues that you’ve got? Someone who knows the “legal motor” list on sight??
Also on the “pro” side of the ledger is that there is no concern about bias or team affiliation… every decision is transparent, rule-based, and open to review and appeal. And there is time to follow through on that process!
And you’ve got to admit, we get to wear the coolest hats! (Sorry CSA’s… I like yours, too, but you’ve got to admit that the yellow is pretty snazzy.)
Quick question. I’m currently a senior and I would like to mentor and/or volunteer next season. How much experience/technical knowledge would I have to have to be an inspector?
Tenchinal? None, just need to be able to understand the rules enough to pass the test. The LRI at the event will train you (or team you up with an experienced RI) as you do the first couple of inspections.
For experience, I would first recommend you volunteer as something else (field reset, queuing, practice field attendant, etc…) to get a better feel for volunteering when switching from a student to a volunteer.
Being a Robot Inspector is great, you get an in depth look at so many robots that you would not otherwise!
One piece of advice I would like to give to new Robot Inspectors, is: Before you make a team tear apart their robot to fix something, verify with an LRI first. One year we were forced to pull out every wire on our robot because the inspector was convinced that they were aluminum core rather than copper, and we could not find the receipts to prove it was copper. Only for 2 hours later, the LRI told us to put it all back, it was fine.
I’ve dropped RI applications for all events I plan to attend this year for inspection day (CIR, 7 Rivers, Champs). You should consider it too, for all the reasons Jared listed, and additionally making the line shorter for all teams involved.
